“东方国家的天才，”一位受人尊敬的权威人士说，“从最早的时候起，就非常注重发明和对小说的热爱。印度人、波斯人和阿拉伯人都因寓言而闻名。在古希腊人中，我们听说过爱奥尼亚和米利都的故事，但它们现在已经消失了，而且从我们听到的每一个叙述来看，它们似乎都是松散和不雅的。”同样，古典词典将“Milesiae fabulae”定义为“淫荡的主题”、“爱情或欢乐的故事”或“荒唐和不雅的戏剧”。德里格先生似乎确实将它们与艺术水粉画的“时光”混为一谈，他说：“une de ces fables Mileiennes, rehaussees de peintures, que la Corruption Romaine Recherchait alors avec une folle ardeur”。

我的朋友理查德·查诺克先生（FASL）更正确地将米利都寓言定义为“由米利都的阿里斯蒂德斯创作的某些故事或小说”；物质上快乐，举止上优雅。 “它们被阿提库斯的朋友、历史学家西塞纳翻译成拉丁文，并在罗马取得了巨大成功。普鲁塔克在他的克拉苏传记中告诉我们，卡赫斯（Carhes？）战败后，在罗马囚犯的行李中发现了一些米利西亚人。希腊文本；拉丁文译本早已失传。唯一幸存的寓言是丘比特和普赛克的故事，[1]《Metamorphoseon》，来自 Asino Aureo，图书 Xl。众所周知且美丽的情节出现在第四本书、第五本书和第六本书中。 阿普列乌斯称之为‘Milesius sermo’，这让我们对其他人的失踪深感遗憾。”除此之外，还有阿波罗多洛斯和科农的遗骸，以及保萨尼亚斯、雅典娜和学者们的一些痕迹。

因此，我不同意布莱尔、字典或德里奇先生的观点。米利都是亚洲爱奥尼亚的伟大海上城市，自古以来就是东西方的交汇地。在这里，来自波罗的海的腓尼基商人会遇到从Extra、Gangem 流浪到Intra 的印度教徒；海珀波利亚号将与努比亚号和埃塞奥普号并肩登上海岸。本书是为当时的文明世界而制作和出版的，是真正的东方寓言、神话和故事的结合，通过有趣的叙述和浪漫的冒险，暗示着道德或人性的教训，而这些教训是我们今天必须经常学习的。无法察觉漂移。阿普列乌斯的书（在引用之前）与拉伯雷一样，都受到许多深奥含义的发现。至于米利都寓言的放荡，这种半文明的标志仍然存在于大多数我们称之为“轻文学”的东方书籍中，而祖先的讲故事者从来没有收集过比他讲述故事时更多的铜钱。他的“aurei”中最糟糕的。但这种因性别分离而产生的松散是偶然的，而非必然的。下面的文集将表明，它是可以省去的，并且印度教文学中存在相对纯洁性这样的东西。事实上，作者几乎总是不厌其烦地为他的男女主人公结婚，如果他找不到牧师，他通常会采用一种极其左撇子和喀里多尼亚但合法的仪式，称为“gandharbavivaha”。[2]这个仪式将在以后的页面中解释。=

大量的内部证据表明，阿普列乌斯的著作是从东方借来的。故事的基础是科林斯的卢修斯变成一头驴，以及他恢复人类形态之前发生的奇怪事故。

另一本古老的印度教故事书以流行的童话风格讲述了英雄和半神伟大的干达巴塞纳的奇妙冒险。因陀罗的儿子，也是本集和另一集的主题的维克拉玛吉特的父亲，由于对某个仙女的喜爱而冒犯了天空的统治者，并注定以驴子的形式在地球上徘徊。然而，在众神的介入下，他被允许在黑暗的时刻成为一个人，因此与英国的传说相比——

阿蒙德维尔白天是领主，
但和尚是夜间的主。

在这个诅咒的折磨下，干达巴色那说服了陀罗国王为他娶了一个女儿，但不幸的是，在婚礼的时候，他只能以愚蠢的形象出现。然而，沐浴后，他前往集会，听到歌曲和音乐，他决定给他们一个他的声音样本。

如此美丽的处女嫁给一头驴子，宾客们都感到悲痛不已。他们不敢向国王表达自己的感受，但又忍不住微笑，用衣服捂住嘴。最后，有人打破了沉默，说道：

“国王啊，这是因陀罗的儿子吗？你找到了一位优秀的新郎；你确实很幸福；不要推迟结婚；延迟行善是不适当的；我们从来没有见过如此盛大的婚礼！确实，我们曾经听说过骆驼与珍妮驴结婚的事。当驴子抬头看着骆驼说：“祝福我，多好的新郎！”骆驼听到驴子的声音，惊呼道：“上帝保佑我，多么美妙的声音啊！”然而，在那场婚礼中，新娘和新郎是平等的。但在这桩婚姻中，有这样的新娘，有这样的新郎，实在是太美妙了。”

当时在场的其他婆罗门说道：

“国王啊，在结婚的时刻，神圣的贝壳被吹响是一种欢乐的象征，但你不需要这个”（暗指驴子的叫声）。

女人们齐声喊道：

“我的母亲啊！[3]悲伤、惊讶、恐惧和其他情绪的常见感叹词。它特别被女性使用。 这是什么？结婚的时候要有屁股！这是多么悲惨的事情啊！什么！他会把那个天使般的女孩嫁给一头驴子吗？”

最后，干达巴色那用梵文向国王讲话，敦促他履行诺言。他提醒他未来的岳父，没有比说真话更功德的行为了；凡人的躯体只是一件衣服，智者从不通过衣服来评价一个人的价值。他补充说，他之所以变成这样的形状是因为他的父亲的诅咒，并且在夜间他拥有了一个男人的身体。他是因陀罗的儿子，这是毫无疑问的。

听到驴子这样说梵文，因为人们从来不知道驴子能用这种古典语言说话，人们的思想都改变了，他们承认，虽然他有驴形，但毫无疑问是因陀罗的儿子。于是，国王将女儿许配给他。[4]引自塞兰波尔的 William Ward 对印度人的看法（第 25 卷）。 这种变形带来了许多不幸和奇怪的事件，直到作者手中的命运使英雄恢复到他以前的样子和荣誉。

干达巴色那（Gandharba-Sena）是一位准历史人物，他生活在基督教纪元之前的一个世纪。因此，这个故事有足够的时间传到了出生于公元 130 年、博学的非洲阿普列乌斯的耳中。

拜塔尔-帕奇西 (Baital-Pachisi)，或二十五个（拜塔尔的故事）[5]梵文为 Vetala-pancha-Vinshati。 “Baital”是“Vetala”的现代形式。——使尸体复活的吸血鬼或邪灵——是一个古老而彻底的印度教剧目。这是虚构历史的粗鲁开端，后来逐渐成熟为《一千零一夜》的娱乐，在薄伽丘的天才培育下，产生了侠义时代的浪漫，及其最后的发展，即小说——现代的散文史诗。欧洲。

它以梵语（“众神的语言”，又名印度拉丁语）创作，已被翻译成大半岛的所有土语或方言和现代方言。它之所以没有得到穆斯林的青睐，无疑是因为它弥漫着高度的多神教精神。此外，《忠实者》已经有了这种作曲风格的样本。这就是《Hitopadesa》（《朋友的建议》），引言中的一行告诉我们，它是从一本较旧的书《Panchatantra》（《五章》）借来的。这是由一位名叫毗湿奴·夏尔马 (Vishnu Sharma) 的博学婆罗门背诵的辩护文集，旨在启迪他的学生（印度王公的儿子）。它们已被改编或翻译成多种语言，特别是佩尔维语和波斯语、叙利亚语和土耳其语、希腊语和拉丁语、希伯来语和阿拉伯语。正如皮尔佩寓言那样，[6]阿拉伯语为 Badpai el Hakim。 欧洲文学家普遍知道，至少是名字。伏尔泰评论道，[7]哲学词典 sub v.“次经”。 “我们对地球的事实反思已经到来，对人类流派的教育也随之而来，皮尔佩、​​洛克曼、埃索普的寓言故事也随之而来。”这些故事虽然相互独立，但却通过人工手段（用线穿过珍珠）串在一起，显然是《十日谈》的前身。一位现代意大利评论家将现在的古典小说描述为一百本小说的合集，薄伽丘据信在那不勒斯乔安娜王后的宫廷上朗读过这些小说，后来他又将这些小说按照最简单和最简单的方式整理在一起。巧妙的设计。但伟大的佛罗伦萨人既没有发明他的故事，也没有发明他的“情节”（如果我们可以这样称呼的话）。他在十四世纪中叶（1344-8）写作，当时西方从东方借了很多东西，押韵[8]我并不是说在伊斯兰时代之前不知道押韵，而是阿拉伯人在南欧普及了协和音和协和音。 还有浪漫、琵琶和鼓、炼金术和游侠。正如东方学家所熟知的那样，许多“小说”至今仍被波斯和中亚的流浪故事讲述者、吟游诗人和狂想曲家几乎按文本演唱和背诵。

伟大的刹帝利，（士兵）国王维克拉玛底亚，[9]“Vikrama”的意思是“勇敢”或“英勇”。 或维克拉玛卡（Vikramarka），意思是“英雄主义的太阳”，在印度扮演亚瑟王和更西边的哈伦·拉希德（Harun al-Rashid）的角色。他是一个半历史人物。他是驴干达巴塞那的儿子和达拉国王的女儿，他的父亲许诺他拥有一千头雄象的力量。当他的父亲去世后，他的祖父因陀罗神决定不让这个婴儿出生，他的母亲因此自杀。但悲惨的事件适时发生在第九个月，维克拉姆独自来到这个世界，并被带到因陀罗那里，因陀罗怜悯并收养了他，并给了他良好的教育。

正如目前将出现的那样，他登基的情况有不同的说法。然而，一旦他成为马来亚国王，即现代的马尔瓦（Malwa），即上印度西部的一个省份，他就表现得如此杰出，以至于印度教寓言家以其一贯的勇敢言辞，让他“将整个地球置于一个人的阴影之下”。伞。”

Mayura 种族的最后一位统治者是 Raja-pal，统治了 318 年。他统治了 25 年，但他的国家却被来自库马翁高地的国王沙卡蒂亚 (Shakaditya) 入侵。维克拉玛蒂亚在位第十四年，假装拥护王王的事业，攻击并摧毁了沙卡蒂亚，并登上了德里的王位。他的首都是阿凡提（Avanti），或称乌贾亚尼（Ujjayani），即现代的乌贾因（Ujjain）。它长 13 科斯（26 英里），宽 18 英里，面积 468 平方英里，在印度历史上不过是小事一桩。他通过战胜这一令人敬畏的种族而获得了“沙卡里”（Shakari）的称号，即“沙卡人”、“萨卡埃”或“斯基泰人”的敌人。在卡利时代（Kali Yug）或铁器时代，他作为学习的守护神在印度教国王中地位最高。在他的资助下，有九个人被称为“科学九宝石”，在印度享有与希腊七智者同等的光荣地位。

这些博学的人用十八种原始方言写了作品，印度教徒说，地球上所有的语言都是从这些方言衍生出来的。[10]塞兰波尔的沃德先生无法引用这十八种语言中超过九种的名字，即：梵语、俗语、龙语、派萨查语、干达巴语、罗刹语、阿达摩伽迪语、阿帕语和密集语——其中大多数是不同语系的语言神话般的存在。然而，他告诉我们，对这些方言的描述可以在《Pingala》一书中找到。 丹万塔里 (Dhanwantari) 在医学和咒语方面启发了世界。刹波那卡（Kshapanaka）处理主要元素。阿马拉-辛哈编纂了一本梵文词典和一部哲学论文。 Shankubetalabhatta 撰写了评论，而 Ghatakarpara 则发表了一部没什么大价值的诗作。 Mihira 的书没有被提及。瓦拉哈创作了两本占星学著作和一本算术著作。巴拉鲁奇对语法进行了一些改进，对咒语进行了评论，并写了一首赞美马达瓦国王的诗。

但在所有受惠者中，最著名的是迦梨陀娑。他的两部戏剧《萨昆塔拉》[11]由 Wm 爵士翻译。琼斯，1789；威廉姆斯教授，1856 年。 还有维克拉姆和乌尔瓦西，[12]由 HH Wilson 教授翻译。 已经降临到我们的时代；除此之外，他还创作了一首关于季节的诗、一部关于天文学的著作、一本关于诸神的诗意历史以及许多其他书籍。[13]这个时代对学者来说是有利的。维克拉玛蒂亚在世时，另一位国王玛格哈 (Magha) 命人写了一首以他的名字命名的诗，据说每写一首诗，他都会向学者们支付一块金币，总计 5,280 升。那些日子，早于《失乐园》的日子。大约在同一时期，第三任国王卡纳塔因赞助在维克拉姆宫廷中获得荣誉的学者而闻名。几乎同时代的诗人达瓦卡（Dhavaka）从国王什里哈沙（Shriharsha）那里收到了 10,000 升的华丽礼物。一首名为《Ratna-Mala》的诗。

Vikramaditya 建立了 Sambat 时代，可追溯到公元 56 年。在经历了漫长、幸福和辉煌的统治之后，他在与 Pratisthana 国王 Shalivahana 的战争中丧生。这位君主还留下了一个名为“Shaka”的时代，从公元 78 年开始。即使是现在，印度教徒仍使用它来记录他们的出生、婚姻和类似的场合。

维克拉玛蒂亚国王由他年幼的儿子维克拉玛-塞纳继承，父子在位长达 93 年。最后，后者被一位名叫萨穆德拉帕拉 (Samudra-pala) 的奉献者取代，他以神奇的方式进入了他的身体。篡位者在位24年零2个月，德里王位继续掌握在他的十六位继承者手中，他们在位641年零3个月。最后一位维克拉玛帕拉 (Vikrama-pala) 在战斗中被瓦哈拉那国王提拉卡旃陀罗 (Tilaka-chandra) 杀死[14]中尉。威尔福德支持这样的理论：有八位维克拉玛蒂亚，其中最后一位创立了这个时代。欲了解更多详情，好奇的读者可以查阅 Lassen 的 Anthologia 和 HH Wilson 教授的 Vikram (New), As 论文。红色..九。 117..

这些印度教故事中的文字并没有被原封不动地保留下来。例如，关于猫变成老虎的问题，是从比高尔离家更近的一所大学的学习宝石中提出的。同样，博学且仍然活着的主教。 Gaume (Traite du Saint-Esprit, p.. 81) 与卡梅里乌斯一样相信蛇咬女人而不是男人。他引用了（第 192 页）Cornelius a Lapide，他告诉我们豹子是母狮与鬣狗或吟游诗人的产物。

古老故事的优点在于它们的启发性和普遍适用性。我大胆地弥补了他们语言的简洁性，并给骷髅穿上了血肉。

致我的叔叔，

多佛考特的罗伯特·巴格肖 (Robert Bagshaw)

这些故事，
这会让他想起一片土地
他非常了解，
都被深情铭刻。

贝拿勒斯曾经统治着一位强大的王子，名叫普拉塔帕穆库特，他的第八个儿子瓦吉拉姆库特经历了最奇怪的冒险。

一天早上，这个年轻人在他父亲的普拉丹（Pradhan）或总理的儿子的陪同下骑马出去打猎，深入丛林深处。最后，两人意外地发现了一辆漂亮的“坦克”[47]天然或人工池塘；在后一种情况下，通常占地十到十二英亩。”的规模惊人。它的周围是由精致的烧砖砌成的短而厚的墙。石阶的阶梯和坡道，每面长度的一半，装饰着塔楼、吊坠和尖顶，通向水边。坚固的灰泥和砖石已年久失修，裂缝中长出了参天大树，浓浓的树荫下微风徐徐吹过，鸟儿在其温暖的枝条上悦耳地歌唱。灰松鼠[48]印度斯坦语“gilahri”或小灰松鼠，其叽叽喳喳的叫声经常被误认为是鸟的叫声。 当它们互相爬上粗糙的树干时，它们欢快地叽叽喳喳地叫着，而长尾猴则在下垂的藤蔓上嬉戏地荡来荡去。沙瓦那的慷慨之手[49]秋天，或者更确切地说，雨季的化身——一种陈腐的印度教诗歌。 土垒上铺满了最柔软的草和色彩缤纷的野花，其中有成群的蜜蜂和无数明亮的翅膀昆虫；成群的水禽、大雁、婆罗门鸭、麻鹬、苍鹭、鹤，无论雄性还是雌性，都在长长的深潭周围那条狭长的绿带上吃食，在开着可爱花朵的阔叶荷花中，在清澈的海浪中嬉戏，快乐地沐浴在和煦的阳光下。

当王子和他的朋友在野生森林中看到这个美丽的坦克时，他们感到很惊讶，并对它做出了许多徒劳的猜测。他们下了马，拴好马，把武器扔在地上。然后，洗完手和脸，他们进入一座供奉玛哈戴瓦的神殿，开始崇拜主神。

当他们进行供奉时，一群少女在一群女奴的陪伴下从对面的台阶走下来。他们在那里站了一会儿，有说有笑，并环顾四周，看看水域里是否有鳄鱼出没。当确信水箱安全后，他们脱掉衣服去洗澡。这确实是一场精彩的奇观。

“关于这一点，说得越少越好，”拉贾·维克拉姆用一种被冒犯的语气打断道。[50]对于严肃的印度教徒来说，谈论女性话题是一种人格冒犯。

——但并没有持续多久。王公的女儿——因为首席少女是一位公主——很快就离开了用手掌舀水互相泼洒的同伴，开始进行净化、冥想和崇拜的仪式。然后她开始和一位朋友在一片小芒果林的树荫下散步。

王子也留下了正在祈祷的同伴，自己走进了森林。突然，王公的儿子和王公的女儿的目光相遇了。她尖叫着向后退了一步。他被她的美丽迷住了，并开始对自己说：“啊，你这邪恶的业力，[51]丘比特有两种形态，爱神和安特洛斯。 你为什么担心我？

少女闻言，微笑鼓励，而可怜的少年却心悸又犹豫不决，糊涂得舌头都快要咬牙切齿了。她微微扬起眉毛。女人最鄙视的莫过于男人的谦虚，[52]这在东方的生活中是真实的，女人先主动，男人做begueules。 对于模式——des-ty——

维克拉姆皇室背后挂着的袋子剧烈晃动，打断了这句冒犯性的话。战士之王并没有停止这种纪律，直到拜塔尔答应他在观察中保持更多的礼仪。

王子依然站在她面前，目光低垂，双颊泛红，连轻蔑的冲动都无法激起他的精力。这时少女叫住了正在摘茉莉花的朋友，生气地质问为什么那个奇怪的男人可以站着看她？这位朋友勃然大怒，威胁要叫来奴隶，把金刚木库扔进池塘里，除非他立即离开，否则他就无礼了。但王子愣在原地，实在没有听到别人对他说的话，两个女人只得先出手了。

当他们快要到达水箱时，美丽的少女转过头来看看这个可怜的谦虚的年轻人在做什么。

金刚杵的形体各方面都是为了吸引女人的眼球。因此，王公的女儿一半原谅了他的冒犯——。她再次甜蜜地微笑，露出两排小蛋白石。然后下到水边，弯腰摘下一朵莲花。她崇拜这个；然后她把它戴在头发上，然后她把它放在耳朵里，然后她用牙齿咬它，然后她用脚踩它，然后她又把它举起来，最后她把它塞在怀里。之后，她登上交通工具，回到朋友身边。而王子因与她分离而变得彻底沮丧并沉浸在悲伤之中，回到了大臣的儿子身边。

“女的！”牧师的儿子用漫不经心的语气自言自语道，祈祷完毕后，他离开了寺庙，坐在水池台阶上享受微风。旋即，他从腰带下抽出一卷纸，很快就投入到了学习中。众女见此，千方百计想方设法吸引他的注意力，分散他的灵魂。他们只成功地让他微笑着转过头，并记住这始终是人类祸根的习惯。然后他又翻了一页手稿。尽管他很快就开始想知道他的主人王子怎么样了，但他甚至没有从书房中抬起头来。

那个年轻人，他是一位哲学家。但毕竟，拉贾·维克拉姆，凡人哲学是什么？无非是冷漠的另一个名字！谁曾经对真正喜爱或真正讨厌的事物有过哲学思考？——没有人！ Shankharacharya 说，哲学要么是自然的礼物，要么是学习的回报。但我，拜塔尔，魔鬼，问你，什么是天生的哲学家，拯救一个冷酷欲望的人？一个有教养的哲学家不就是一个在欲望中幸存下来的人吗？一个年轻的哲学家？——一个冷血的青年！一位年长的哲学家？——一位患有白质粘液质的老人！事实上，你们从你们的王公的《科学九宝石》和其他诸如此类的聪明傻瓜那里听到的都是无稽之谈。

然后王子开始讲述他的情况，说道：“朋友啊，我见过一位少女，但她是否是因陀罗天上的音乐家、海中少女、蛇王的女儿，还是孩子？”我不能说是地球上的拉贾。”

“描述一下她，”这位处于胚胎状态的政治家说道。

王子说：“她的脸像满月一样，她的头发像一群蜜蜂从金合欢花上垂下来，她的眼角碰到了她的耳朵，她的嘴唇带着月光的甜甜，她腰如狮子，步态如大雁。[53]Raja-hans，一只大灰鹅，在印度教中相当于我们的天鹅。 作为一件衣服，她是白色的；作为一个季节，春天；作为花，茉莉花；作为说话者，科基拉鸟；作为香水，麝香；作为一个美人，Kamadeva；作为一个存在，爱。如果她不归我所有，我就活不下去；我确实已经决定了这一点。”

年轻的大臣已经不止一次地听过自己的王子说过同样的话，所以对这些可怕的话并没有太在意。他只是说，除非他们立刻上马，否则森林里的夜色会让他们大吃一惊。然后两个年轻人回到马背上，解开马缰绳，给他们套上马鞍，拿起武器，慢慢地向王宫走去。回来的三个小时里，两人几乎没有说过一句话。金刚木不仅避免说话，而且还避免说话。他从来没有回答过，直到用最大的声音说了三次。

年轻的大臣没有再提出任何问题，他自言自语道，“因为，当王子需要我的建议时，他会提出申请的。”在这一点上，他从他的父亲那里学到了智慧，他的父亲对不请自来的建议感到特别恐惧。因此，当他发现这种谈话令他的主人感到厌烦时，他就保持沉默并沉思他所谓的“白天的想法”。他的习惯是每天早上选择一些难吃的食物进行反思，有时在头脑中反刍这些食物，如果没有这样的工作，他的智慧就会变得胡思乱想。拉贾·维克拉姆，你可以想象，经过几年的头脑工作，部长的儿子变成了一个非常狡猾的年轻人。

第二天之后，瓦吉拉姆库太子因分离的悲痛而焦躁不安，烦躁得发烧了。他放弃了写作、阅读、饮酒、睡觉、父亲托付给他的事务以及其他一切，正如他所说，坐下来死去。他经常画美丽的采莲人的肖像，并以泪眼凝视着它。然后他会跳起来，把它撕成碎片，敲打自己的额头，开始画另一张更美丽的脸。

最后，正如普拉丹的儿子所预见的那样，他被年轻的拉贾召唤，他发现拉贾躺在床上，脸色苍白，痛苦地抱怨头痛。两个年轻人经常讨论温柔的激情这个话题，其中一个人曾经非常不尊重地谈论这个话题，以至于另一个人感到羞于介绍它。但是，当他的朋友为了促进交流，建议吃一道菜煮苦菜，并特别注意饮食时，引用了博学的医生查恩达塔（Charndatta）的半语半句，

发烧时挨饿，感冒时则喂食，

不幸的是，金刚橛的毅力抛弃了他。他泪流满面，感叹道：凡踏上爱情之路的，都无法幸存；如果（偶然）他活了下来，那么生命对他来说除了延长他的痛苦之外还有什么意义呢？”

“是的，”大臣的儿子回答道，“圣人说过——

“爱的路是无始无终的；在你踏上它之前，你要小心一点，伙计。

“明智的人知道，有三件事对自己的影响是男人无法预见的——即女人的欲望、骰子盒和酗酒——他们会发现完全戒除它们是最好的规则。但毕竟，如果没有牛，我们就必须给公牛挤奶。”

这个建议当然很好，但是不幸的情人不禁认为这一次来得太晚了。然而，顿了顿，他又回到正题，说道：“我冒险踏上了那条危险的道路，无论它的结局是痛苦还是快乐，幸福还是毁灭。”然后他低下头，从心底叹了口气。

“她就是那个在坦克里出现在我们面前的人？”普拉丹的儿子被他主人的处境所感动，问道。

王子同意了。

“伟大的国王啊，”大臣的儿子继续说道，“离开时她对您说过什么吗？或者你对她说过什么吗？”

“没有什么！”当另一个人发现他的朋友开始对这件事感兴趣时，他简洁地回答道。

“那么，”牧师的儿子说道，“想要占有她就非常困难了。”

“那么，”王公的儿子重复道，“我注定要死；早日忧郁地死去！”

“哼！” ”这位年轻的政治家相当不耐烦地说道，“她有没有做出任何迹象，或者给出任何暗示？让我知道发生的一切：半点信任比不信任更糟糕。”

王子讲述了在坦克旁边发生的一切，为使他哑口无言的虚假羞耻而哀叹，并以她的哑剧结束。

普拉丹的儿子沉思了一会儿。于是，他抓住这个机会，向他的主人讲述了女性害羞的所有恶果，并建议他在下次采访时厚着脸皮，因为他会成为一个幸福的情人。

年轻的拉贾忠实地答应了这一点。

“现在，”另一个人说道，“请放心吧，我的主人！我知道她的名字和她的住处。当她突然摘下莲花朝拜时，她感谢诸神赐予她一睹你的美丽。”

金刚木库特笑了，这是上个月来的第一次。

“当她把它戴在耳朵上时，就好像她会向你解释，‘我是卡纳提克的女儿：[54]正确的卡纳塔克邦； karna在梵语中的意思是耳朵。 当她用牙齿咬它时，她的意思是说“我的父亲是 Raja Dantawat，[55]梵文中的“丹塔”是一颗牙齿。’顺便说一句，他过去、现在、将来都将是你父亲的死敌。”

金刚杵浑身颤抖。

“当她把它放在脚下时，意思是：‘我的名字是帕德玛瓦蒂。[56]Padma 的意思是脚。'“

金刚目发出一声喜悦的叫声。

“当她把它放在怀里时，‘你真的住在我心里’就已经被理解了。”

听到这些话，年轻的王公开始了新的生活，在热情地赞扬了他亲爱的朋友的奇妙智慧之后，恳求他想出一些办法获得他父母的许可，并把他带到她的城市。部长的儿子轻而易举地就得到了前往瓦吉拉姆库特旅行的许可，理由是他的身体需要换水，他的思想需要改变场景。他们两人都穿戴整齐，武装起来，带上一些珠宝，骑上马，沿着路朝公主去的方向走去。

几天后，牧师的儿子到达了卡纳提克的首都，他把自己和主人伪装成旅行商人的服装，下了车，在郊区的一块空地上搭起了他的小帐篷。然后他开始寻找一位聪明的女人，他说，希望有人告诉他他的算命。当王子问他这是什么意思时，他回答说，专业预测未来的年长女士永远不会凌驾于当前之上，因此，在这种情况下，她们是最合适的咨询对象。

“这是一篇关于不道德主题的论文吗，魔鬼？”维克拉姆国王凶狠地问道。拜塔尔宣称事实并非如此，但他必须讲述他的故事。

说话的人指着一位老妇人，她坐在自己的小屋门前，正在转动轮子。然后，年轻人走到她面前，礼貌地打招呼，说道：“妈妈，我们是旅行商人，我们的货物正在追赶我们；我们提前来是为了找地方住。如果你能给我们一套房子，我们就留在那里，并付给你高价。”

老妇人是个相术师，也是个算命师，看着这几个小伙子的脸，很喜欢他们，因为他们的眉毛宽阔，嘴巴大方。听了他们的话，她怜悯了他们，和蔼地说道：“这间小屋是你们的了，我的主人，你们想住多久就住多久吧。”然后她领他们进了一间内屋，再次欢迎他们，感叹住所的简陋，并请求他们躺下休息。

过了一会儿，老妇人又来到他们身边，坐下来开始闲聊。大臣的儿子问她：“你的家人、亲戚、关系怎么样？你的生活资料是什么？她回答说：“我的儿子是我们伟大的国王丹塔瓦特家里最喜欢的仆人，而你的奴隶是他的长子帕德玛瓦蒂公主的奶妈。从年老开始，”她补充道，“我住在这所房子里，但国王供应我的饮食。我每天去看望那个女孩，她是一个美丽、善良、智慧和成就的奇迹，从那里回来，我在家中承受着自己的悲伤。[57]一个常见的印度教短语，相当于我们的“我设法相处”。=

几天之内，年轻的瓦吉拉姆库特凭借他的慷慨、温和的言语和英俊的外表，在拉克希米护士的感情中取得了如此大的进步，以至于在他的同伴的建议下，他冒险提出了最接近他内心的话题。当他的女主人第二天去拜访迷人的帕德玛瓦蒂时，他恳求她能好心地把一张纸塞到公主手里。

“儿子，”她回答道，对这个提议很高兴——哪个老太婆会不高兴呢？——“没有必要把这么紧急的事情推迟到明天。把你的论文准备好，我马上给你。”

王子高兴得浑身发抖，跑去找他的朋友，他像往常一样坐在花园里读书，告诉他老护士要做的事。然后他开始争论如何写信、如何挑选句子、如何权衡短语； “我眼睛里的光”是否太老套了，而“我肝脏里的血”又太强硬了。大臣的儿子闻言笑了笑，并嘱咐王子不要再费心去写文章了。然后他从腰间的披肩中抽出砚台，拿起一支芦苇笔，选了一张粉红色的花纸，在上面写下了几行字。然后他把它折起来，涂上胶，在外面画了一朵莲花，递给小王子，告诉他把它交给女主人，就万事大吉了。

老妪手持法杖，一瘸一拐地直奔王宫而去。到达那里后，她发现拉贾的女儿独自坐在她的公寓里。少女一见奶妈，立刻起身，恭敬地行了一礼，领着她入座，开始了最亲切的询问。给了她祝福，坐了一会儿，聊了一些无关紧要的事情后，护士说：“女儿啊！在婴儿时期，我养育和滋养了你，现在薄伽梵（神）奖励了我，赐予你身材、美丽、健康和善良。我的心只渴望看到你作为女人的幸福，[58]意思是婚姻、生育等等。 之后我就会平静地离开。我恳求你读一下这份报纸，它是我见过的最英俊、最得体的年轻人送给我的。”

公主看了一眼纸条外面的莲花，缓缓展开，细读起来，内容如下：

1.

她对我来说是一颗依附的珍珠
远离凡人视线的沙子
但仍适合国王的王冠，
纯净可爱的光芒。

2.

她对我来说就是阳光
打破了冬日的阴郁
一瞬间照亮了我的灵魂，
然后就过去了——多快啊！——走了。

3.

她对我来说是幸福的梦想
之前那双垂死的眼睛浮现，
短暂的一小时流露出幸福，
不再飞翔去祝福。

4.

光啊，再次照耀我；
哦，珍珠，再次让我的眼睛高兴；
噢，幸福的梦想，再次属于我吧！——
不！地球可能不是天堂。

我不能忘记，顺便说一下，牧师的儿子，为了使这些诗句普遍有用，为他们提供了最后一节，一式三份。 “对于恋人来说，”他睿智地说，“要么处于选择的情绪中，要么处于绝望的情绪中，要么处于狂喜的情绪中。”这次他使用了选择。对于绝望的人，他会替换为：

4.

生命的欢乐已死，已死，
白天的光芒在黑暗中熄灭
我心的希望之火已消失
现在是什么阻止我进入坟墓

正如他所说，这就是结束时的狂喜：

4.

啊，我多么高兴，珍珠又是我的了，
天又明亮又晴朗
现在是真实的，然后是徒劳的，
我的幸福梦想——天堂啊，在这里！

帕德玛瓦蒂公主用轻蔑的目光细细地打量着这首打油诗，撕下最后一行的第一个字，愤怒地对护士说：“走开，阎摩之母啊，[59]阎摩是冥王星； “阎罗之母”一般用于指老骂人。 哦，不幸的生物，把这个答案收回来——把那张纸片给她——“给那个写出如此糟糕诗句的傻瓜。我想知道他在哪里学习人文学科。走开，以后不要再做这样的事了！”

老护士见状，心疼不已，起身回家了。金刚寺焦躁不安，无法等待她的到来，便顺路去迎接她。想象一下，当她给了他致命的话语并向他重复了发生的事情时，他的失望程度，还不忘描述了一个眼神！他很想把剑插进怀里。但命运之神介入，派他去咨询他的心腹。

“别这么急躁和绝望，我的王子，”普拉丹的儿子看到他极度悲伤，说道。 “你还没明白她的意思。在以后的生活中，你会意识到这样一个事实：十有八九，女人的“不”是明确的“是”。今天早上的工作很顺利；少女问你在哪里学的人文学科，解释起来就是“你是谁？”

第二天，王子向老拉克希米透露了他的军衔，老拉克希米自然地宣称她一直都知道这一点。他们对她的信任使她准备好再次与帕德马瓦蒂谈论这个被禁止的话题。于是，她又去了王宫，亲切地问候了她的乳儿，对她说：“王公的儿子，你在五月初五的月光下，在水箱的边缘迷住了他的心。”月耶斯来到我家，并向你发送了这条消息：“履行你的承诺；”我们现在来了；我还告诉你，这位王子配得上你：正如你美丽一样，他也被赋予了身心的一切美好品质。

当帕德玛瓦蒂听到这番话时，她表现出极大的愤怒，用她美丽的双手摩擦着凉鞋，她拍打着老妇人的脸颊，喊道：“可怜虫，戴娜（女巫）！滚出我的房子;我不是禁止你在我面前说这种蠢话吗？”

情人和护士都因为接受了年轻牧师的建议而同样感到苦恼，直到他解释了狡猾的少女的意思。 “当她把凉鞋涂在她的十个手指上时，”他解释道，“并打在老妇人的脸上，她表示，当剩下的十个月夜过去时，她将在黑暗中与你见面。”与此同时，他警告他的主人，从表面上看，帕德玛瓦蒂女士太聪明了，无法成为一个舒适的妻子。大臣的儿子尤其讨厌有才华、有知识、有主见的女人；有人听到他描述了纳格洛克所受的折磨[60]蛇地：地狱之地。 作为一位好辩的神学家和一位博学的女作家的强制性陪伴，她们年事已高，面容令人生畏，而这样的人大多都是这样。在女性中，他钦佩——从理论上讲，就像成为一名哲学家一样——身材矮小、丰满、爱笑、喋喋不休、缺乏智慧、物质主义的人。因此——请原谅题外话，拉贾·维克拉姆——他娶了一位老处女，她又高又瘦，肤色黄，举止得体，冷漠，健谈，以灵性而自豪。但更奇妙的是，他娶了她之后，竟然还爱着她——在这些事情上，男人是多么难以理解啊！

然而，还是要回来。普拉丹的儿子在帕德玛瓦蒂公主身上发现了某些坚强的症状，建议他的主人要明智，而智慧对他有用。可以猜到，这个明智的建议遭到了他最无情的拒绝，而他的目的是为了他的利益。然后，这位明智的年轻政治家评价自己违反了父亲的感人建议规则，并通过盲目转发他主人的观点来弥补这一点。

十夜月光过去后，老嬷嬷再次被送进宫，带着平常的消息。这一次，帕德玛瓦蒂把藏红花涂在了她的三个手指上，并再次在护士的脸颊上留下了藏红花的痕迹。牧师的儿子解释说，这是为了拖延三天，第四天，情人就能见到她。

时间过去了，老妇人又去询问她的健康状况。公主一如既往地勃然大怒，亲自带奶妈到西门，称她为“象鼻之母，[61]对杜尔加（Durga）的一种虐待，杜尔加是伽内什（Janus）的母亲；后者有一个大象的头。”并威胁说如果她回来就用棍子把她赶出去。这件事被报告给了这位年轻的政治家，他考虑了几分钟后说：“这件事的解释是，她邀请你明天晚上在这个门口与她见面。

当棕色的阴影落在大地上，星星点点地在苍白的天空中闪烁时，部长的儿子瓦吉拉姆库特（Vajramukut），他那天至少有一半时间都在打扮自己。他仔细地刮了脸颊和下巴的胡子。他的小胡子被修剪过，卷曲了。他用镊子拔掉眉毛周围的细毛，把眉毛修成拱形。他把麝香色的卷发辫子优雅地垂在脸上。他的眼皮上画着宽宽的锑线，额头上贴着一道最耀眼的宗派标记，他的嘴唇因嚼槟榔而变得更红了——

“人们会以为你在谈论一个傻女孩，而不是一个王子，恶魔！”维克拉姆打断了他的话，他不希望儿子听到他所说的这些粗俗和轻浮的话。

——把他的脖子剃得白白的（拜塔尔继续说道，语速很快，好像决意不被打断），捏捏他的耳尖，让它们变红，把铜粉擦到根部，让牙齿闪闪发亮，并在指尖涂上指甲花，衬托出手指的精致。他对自己的着装也同样小心：他戴着一条精心布置的头巾，花了他至少两个小时才绑好，还有一套为他即将尝试的冒险而选择的华丽棕色衣服，他在附近闲逛。他身上有许多不同的武器，以显得英雄——这是年轻女子所钦佩的。

金刚木问他的朋友他看起来怎么样，当对方回答“令人钦佩！”时，他开心地笑了。他的幸福如此之大，以至于他担心它不会持续下去，他问大臣的儿子如何最好地表现自己？

“作为征服者，我的王子！”那个精明的年轻人回答说：“如果这样的话，你也能成为其中一员。当你想赢得一个女人时，一定要强加于她。告诉她你是她的主人，她就会立即相信自己是你的仆人。告诉她她爱你，她就会立即崇拜你。让她知道你不在乎她，她就会只想到你。用你的举止向她证明你认为她是奴隶，她就会成为你的贱民。但最重要的是——请原谅我重复太多次——要提防男人称之为谦虚、女人称之为羞怯的致命美德。回想一下它给我们带来的麻烦，以及我们所遭受的危险：所有这一切都可以在距你们父皇宫殿十五英里以内的一辆坦克中完成。请允许我说，你可能仍然感谢你的星星：在爱情中，失去的机会很难找回。追求一个女人的时机是你见到她的那一刻，在她有时间思考之前；允许她使用反射，她可能会逃脱网。在避开谦虚的岩石之后，我召唤你，不要掉进安全的深渊。我害怕帕德玛瓦蒂女士，她太聪明，也太谨慎。当她这个年纪的少女拔出爱情之剑时，她们就扔掉了预防的剑鞘。但你打哈欠——我厌倦了你——我们该搬家了。”

夜已两更，大地一片寂静。随后，年轻人悄悄地穿过阴影，来到了宫殿的西门，发现大门半开着。大臣的儿子往里一看，看见看门人正在打瞌睡，庄严得像吠陀经深处的婆罗门，而他身后站着一个蒙着面纱的女人，似乎在等待着什么人。然后，他踮起脚尖回到离开主人的地方，带着临别时对谦虚和安全的警告，吩咐他勇敢地滑过检票口。然后，他在门口焦急地倾听了一会儿，然后就回到了老妇人的家里。

金刚木走到楼梯口，感觉自己的手被那蒙着面纱的人抓住了，示意他轻步，带着他快步向前走去。他们穿过几个拱门，穿过昏暗的通道和黑暗的门口，最后爬上一段石阶，到达了公主的寓所。

当威严的洪流向他袭来时，瓦吉拉姆库特几乎要晕倒了。回过神来，他环顾四周，一阵喜悦的骚动侵入了他的灵魂，他的身体也充满了喜悦。[62]根据印度教徒的说法，意想不到的快乐使身体下部竖起毛。 那场景简直就是仙境一般。金香炉喷出最名贵的香，宝石花瓶里开着最美丽的花。装有芳香油的银灯照亮了门板，门板装饰精美，墙壁上装饰着图画，其中形成的人物让人一看就着迷。房间的一侧摆着一张花坛和一张铺着金色锦缎的沙发，上面撒满了新鲜采摘的茉莉花。另一侧依次摆放着香油架、槟榔盒、玫瑰水瓶、托盘和银盒，四格隔开，盛放玫瑰叶、糖、香料、配制的檀香、藏红花和香料等调配而成的香精。麝香豆荚。白色如水晶的灰泥地板上散落着精美糖果的彩色盒子，还有各种糖果。[63]印度教徒从这些场景中消除了“烧瓶”，即万能的，也许他们是对的。 身着各色服饰的女侍从，按照等级依次站立，双手恭敬地合十。有的在朗诵戏剧和优美的诗歌，有的在跳舞，还有的用闪闪发光的手指和闪亮的手臂演奏各种乐器——象牙琵琶、乌木管和银定鼓。简而言之，所有快乐和享受的手段和用具都在那里。对于当时的奇迹公寓的外观进行任何描述都是不可能的。

然后，另一个蒙着面纱的人物，美丽的帕德玛瓦蒂公主走上前来，露出了自己，令她欣喜若狂的瓦吉拉姆库特眼花缭乱。她把他领进一个凹室，让他坐下，在他身上抹上檀香粉，在他脖子上挂上茉莉花环，在他衣服上洒上玫瑰水，开始在他头上挥舞一把孔雀羽毛扇子。一个金色的把手。

尽管付出了一切努力，王子还是无法完全摆脱谦虚的坏习惯，他说：“你那双纤细的手不适合做盘卡。[64]Pankha，或者说大扇子，是 Corypha umbraculifera 的一片叶子，叶柄被切成大约五英尺的长度，削去边缘并涂上漂亮的颜色。站在椅子后面的仆人挥舞着它。 你为什么要这么麻烦？看到你我感到凉爽和精神焕发。请把扇子递给我，然后坐下。”

“不，伟大的国王！”帕德玛瓦蒂带着最迷人的微笑回答道：“你为了我费了这么大劲才来到这里，我为你服务是理所应当的。”

她最喜欢的奴隶从公主手中接过pankha，大声说道：“这是我的职责。我将履行该服务；你们两个玩得开心吗！”

然后，这对恋人开始嚼槟榔，再见时，他们从口袋里掏出玛瑙小盒子，把槟榔扔掉，很快他们就开始了最温柔的交谈。

拜塔尔在这里停了一会儿，可能是为了喘口气。然后他又继续讲他的故事：

与此同时，天已亮了。公主把他藏起来了。夜幕降临时，他们又开始了同样天真的快乐。就这样，日子过得飞快。如果可以的话，想象一下年轻人的幸福；他性情热情，情深意重，才二十岁，受到严厉的父母严格的抚养。因此，他完全屈服于塞壬，为了她，他愿意忘记世界，他对自己的好运气感到惊讶，这让他获得了比梅鲁所有矿藏都更丰富的征服。[65]大量的宝石构成了印度教神话中的圣山。 他对帕德玛瓦蒂的优雅、美丽、聪明才智和无数的成就赞叹不已。每天早上，他为了虚荣，从她那里学一点无用的诗文知识，比如诗人的一句话——

享受现在的时光，这是你的；人类啊，这就是你的法律；
谁会重温旧事？明天会预见到谁？

还有这条极具哲学意义的公理——

吃、喝、爱——其余的都不值得一提。

“他希望如此，拉贾·维克拉姆！”恶魔说道，没有理会他的皇家载体的“呃”和“呸”，“随着时间的推移，他会变得几乎和他的情妇一样聪明。”

正如你所看到的，帕德玛瓦蒂是一位心智出众的少女，她自然更着迷于她情人的愚钝，而不是他的任何其他品质。她很喜欢它，这与她自己形成了鲜明的对比。[66]“我喜欢我的爱人带有‘S’，因为他很愚蠢，而且不具备心理素质。” 起初，她做了许多聪明女人都会做的事——她用自己的想象力赋予了他光明。她想，静水流得很深；当然，在这种伪装之下，一定潜藏着一种辉煌的幻想，一种敏锐而成熟的判断——它们不是自然之手写在宽阔的高额眉毛上的吗？留着这么可爱的小胡子，他难道不是大方、高尚、大度吗？这样的眼睛除了英雄还能属于任何人吗？她助长了这种错觉。当他在几行诗上浪费了好几个小时之后，却把所有的形容词都写错了，并且野蛮地恳求韵律时，她会带着强烈的喜爱对他微笑。当年轻人被从她嘴里说出的明亮话语所激发时，她发出了满意的笑声，说出了一些陈词滥调，就像即将熄灭的萤火虫中的灯一样暗淡。当他在语法上犯错时，她看到了其中的恶意；当他重复讲一个借来的笑话时，她称其为好笑话；当他使用——就像王子有时会使用的——脏话时，她发现其中有一种迷人的简单。

起初她怀疑那些赢得她芳心的计谋是她的爱人暗算的结果。但聪明的女人在与自己有关的每件事上往往很少有敏锐的洞察力。她经常确定第三个秘密是秘密的。因此，她没有提及此事。不久之后，迷恋的瓦吉拉姆库特就告诉了她一切，从大臣的儿子对爱情的谩骂开始，到郑重警告她，这位美丽的公主，有一天或有一天会欺骗她的丈夫。

“如果我不向他报仇，”美丽的帕德玛瓦蒂听着年轻人的自信，像天使一样微笑着想，“愿我下一世成为园丁的屁股吧！”

立下誓言后，她打破沉默，对年轻的普拉丹的智慧和洞察力赞不绝口。她自称出于感激而准备成为他的奴隶，只希望有一天她能遇到那位真正的朋友，她的灵魂因他的技巧而得到了满足。 “只是，”她总结道，“我确信，现在我的金刚菩提知道他的小帕德玛瓦蒂心中的每一个角落，他永远不会指望她做任何事，除了爱、钦佩、崇拜和亲吻他！”然后，她言出必行，让他相信这位年轻的牧师在他的哲学中曾经过于固执和愤世嫉俗。

但一个月过去了，由于吃喝睡得太多，而且一次也没有打猎，瓦吉拉木库特变得身体暴躁，精神忧郁。他的脸变黄了，眼白也变黄了。他像一般肝病患者一样打哈欠，偶尔抱怨头痛，食欲不振，变得焦躁不安，有一次在夜里独自一人时，他这样自言自语：“我已经放弃了国家、王位、家庭和一切。”除此之外，我已经三十天没有见到那个让我获得这种幸福的朋友了。他会对自己说什么，我怎么知道他发生了什么事？”

他就这样坐着，与此同时，美丽的公主到来了。她看透了这件事，立即着手处理。她首先表达了对爱人的善变和好变的惊讶，当他准备发怒时，她引用了圣人的话：“不生育的妻子八年可以被取代；她的孩子都死了，在第十个；第十一个只生女儿的女人；她以为她是在暗示他的爱，于是她解释说她是在指他忘记了他的朋友，以此平息了他的脾气。 “我的灵魂啊，”她用最轻柔的声音问道，当你的心在那里徘徊时，你怎么可能在这里幸福呢？哦，精明的人，你为什么向我隐瞒这一点？是怕让我难受吗？为你的妻子着想，不要以为她会把你与我们都欠下如此多的人分开！

此后，帕德玛瓦蒂建议（不，是命令）她的爱人当晚就出去，直到他心情完全放松后再回来，她恳求他带上一些甜食和其他小东西，以表达她的钦佩和尊重。她经常听说的那个聪明的年轻人。

金刚满怀感激之情拥抱了她，这激起了她的愤怒，她担心隐藏的斗篷会从她脸上掉下来，她匆忙离开，去寻找她的糖果盒里的美味佳肴。不久，她回来了，给她的爱人带来了一袋各种各样的甜食，当他起身离开时，她把一小包专为她的朋友准备的糖李子放在他手里。它们是用她自己纤细的手指缝制而成的，她自以为它们会令他满意，甚至会令他挑剔的味觉满意。

小王子在经历了几次告别的拥抱和期盼早日归来的遗言之后，安全地穿过了宫门，满脸释然地快步走向老嬷嬷的家。尽管已经是半夜了，他的朋友仍然坐在他的垫子上。

两个年轻人依偎在彼此的怀里，深情地拥抱在一起。然后他们开始谈论最关心的事情。国王的儿子看到他的同伴疲惫而憔悴的表情感到惊讶，他毫不掩饰这是因为他担心他的朋友在如此才华横溢、如此优越的公主手中可能会发生什么。瓦吉拉姆库特现在认为帕德玛瓦蒂是天使，他的故居是天堂，对此，他以一种正式的方式评论道——一个引文中有两个错误——能力正确地为一个人赢得了两个世界的幸福。

普拉丹的儿子摇摇头。

“再次发挥你的爱好，每当你在别人身上发现才华时就喋喋不休！”年轻的王子用双关语喊道，这会让帕德玛瓦蒂很高兴。 “你肯定是嫉妒她吧！”他继续说道，对他的笑话所带来的死一般的寂静一点也不高兴。 “嫉妒她的聪明，嫉妒她对我的爱。她是世界上最好的生物。即使你是一个讨厌女人的人，只要你知道她发来的所有善意的信息，以及她为你准备的小惊喜，你也会拥有它。那里！拿去吃；都是她亲手做的！”年轻的拉贾边喊边拿出甜食。 “正如她亲自教我说的那样——

感谢上帝我是一个男人，
不是哲学家！”

“她发给我的善意信息！她给我准备了惊喜！”部长的儿子用生硬、干巴巴的语气重复道。 “大人会很高兴告诉我她是怎么听说我的名字的吗？”

“有一天晚上，”王子回答道，“我正坐着，焦急地想念着你，这时公主进来了，看到我的情况，问道：‘你为什么如此悲伤？向我解释一下原因。我就向她讲述了你的聪明才智，她一听，就允许我去看你，还给你送了这些甜食，吃下去我就高兴了。”

“伟大的国王！”这位年轻的政治家回答说：“有件事可以从我这里得到。你没有做得好，你告诉了我的名字。你永远不应该让女人认为你的左手知道她向你的右手吐露的​​秘密，更不用说你已经把这个秘密分享给了第三人。其次，你让她看到了你对你不配的仆人的尊敬，这也是邪恶的——女人永远会恨她的情人或丈夫的朋友。”

“我能做什么？”年轻的拉贾以抱怨的语气重新加入。 “当我爱一个女人时，我喜欢告诉她一切——对她没有秘密——把她视为另一个自己——”

“哪个习惯，”普拉丹的儿子打断道，“等你再长大一点，当你认识到爱情只不过是一场较量，一场两个异性之间的技巧游戏时，你就会输：一个寻求获得利益的人。”尽可能多，而另一个则力求损失尽可能少；从长远来看，在棋盘上相遇的两人中，谁更聪明，谁就一定会获胜。而沉默只是一种习惯。练习一年，你会发现背叛比隐藏自己的想法更难。它也有它的快乐。你想，当你抑制住温柔但致命的自信的爆发时，对自己说：“哦，如果她知道这一点就好了？” “哦，如果她确实这么做了但怀疑呢？”然而，回到糖李子，我的生活变成了贱民，因为它们被毒害了！”

“不可能的！”王子惊呼道，一想到这个，他就惊恐万状。 “你说的，肯定没有人能做到。如果一个凡人不惧怕他的同胞，至少他会惧怕神。”

“我从来不知道，”另一个人回答道，“恋爱中的女人会害怕什么。不过，王子，审判很容易。穆蒂，过来！” “他对老妇人的狗喊道，“和你一起去见你那个三头亲戚吧，他侍奉着他看上去和蔼可亲的主人。[67]印度教神话中也有地狱犬、特里西萨、侍奉可怕的阎王（冥王星）的“三头”猎犬]=

说完，他把一颗糖果扔给了狗。那动物吃了它，不久就翻滚倒地而死。

“这个坏蛋！噢，这个可怜虫！”瓦吉拉姆库特大喊道，他既惊讶又愤怒。 “而且我爱她！但现在一切都结束了。我不敢与这样的灾难联系在一起！”

“大人，事情已经发生了！”部长的儿子平静地说。 “对于一位才华横溢的公主做出的这种事情，我已经做好了准备。没有人会像你们聪明的女人那样犯下这样的错误、大错和愚蠢。他们甚至无法像样地执行犯罪行为。哦，请给我一个想法、一个目标、一个愿望的迟钝。哦，与幸福、力量相结合的三倍受祝福的愚钝。”

这一次，瓦吉拉穆库特没有捍卫天赋。

“你的奴隶竭尽全力警告你不要背信弃义。但现在我的心已经安息了。我已经尝试过她的实力了。她尝试过，但失败了；这次失败将阻止她再次尝试——就目前而言。但让我请你问自己一个问题。没有她你能幸福吗？”

“兄弟！”王子停顿了一下后回答说：“我不能”。当他承认时，他脸红了。

“好吧，”另一个人回答道，“最好坦白这一事实，而不是隐瞒这一事实；我们现在必须在战场上与她会面，并用她自己的武器击败她——狡猾的。我不愿意对女人背叛，因为，首先，我不喜欢这样做；其次，我知道他们肯定会开始对我实行这种做法，之后我就认为自己欺骗他们是正当的。也许这会是一个好妻子；请记住，她的目的是毒害我，而不是你。在过去的一个月里，我一直担心我的王子会遇到老虎的刹车。告诉我，大人，公主希望您什么时候回到她身边？”

“她吩咐我，”年轻的王公说，“在我的心情对我才华横溢的朋友的问题感到完全放心之前，不要回来。”

“这意味着她希望你明天晚上回来，因为之前你不能进入宫殿。现在我要回到我的小床上了，因为我习惯在那里思考我的计划。黎明之前，我的思想将会成熟，必须将美丽的帕德玛瓦蒂置于您的掌控之下。”

“临别前的一句话，”王子大声说道，“你知道我的父亲已经为我选好了配偶；如果我带第二个回家，他会说什么？”

“依我愚见，”即将退休的牧师儿子说道，“女人是一夫一妻制，男人是一夫多妻制，这一事实在生理学理论中几乎不成立，但在日常实践中却非常明显。诗人说了什么？——

离婚吧，朋友！与你重婚！春天临近了，[68]Parceque c'est la saison des amours。
妻子的不过是一本年历——适合这一年。

如果你的父王对你说什么，就让他看看他自己是怎么做的。”

听到这些话，瓦吉拉穆库特向他的朋友诚挚地道了晚安，并找到了他的小床，尽管过去几个小时他情绪激动，但他在那里睡得很香。第二天过得有些缓慢。晚上，大臣的儿子陪主人进宫时，给了他以下指示。

“我们的目标，亲爱的大人，是如何获得公主的占有。那么，拿着这把三叉戟，当你看到她表现出最大的爱和感情时，小心地把它藏起来。隐瞒发生的事情，当她对你的平静感到惊讶时，询问我的情况，告诉她昨晚我很疲倦，身体不好，疾病使我无法吃她的甜食，但我今晚会吃它们当晚饭。当她睡着的时候，她摘下珠宝，用三叉戟敲打左腿，立刻就到我身边来了。但如果她醒着躺着，用你的拇指擦一点这个——别害怕，这只是一种以铜绿为食的幼虫粉末——然后把它涂在她的鼻孔上。这会让大象失去知觉，所以要小心你如何接近它自己的脸。”

金刚杵拥抱了他的朋友，并安全地穿过了宫门。他发现帕德玛瓦蒂正在等他。她伏在他的怀里，看着他的眼睛，欺骗了自己，就像聪明的女人会做的那样。她被喜悦和满足所压倒，现在确信她的爱人永远属于她，而且她的背叛还没有被发现；于是美丽的公主就陷入了沉睡。

然后，瓦吉拉姆库特立即按照部长儿子的建议行事，溜出了房间，拿走了帕德玛瓦蒂的珠宝和装饰品。他的谋士检查完他们之后，拿起一个麻袋，示意他的主人跟着他。将马匹和行李留在护士家，他们步行到城外的一处燃烧地点。大臣的儿子把他的衣服和王子的衣服埋在那里，并从麻袋里拿出一套宗教苦行僧的服装：他自己穿上了这件衣服，并把门徒的衣服给了他的同伴。然后，古鲁（精神导师）对他的弟子说：“年轻人，去集市，把这些珠宝卖掉，记住让当地一半的珠宝商看到这些东西，如果有人抓住你， ，把他带到我这里来。”

天亮后，瓦吉拉姆库提着公主的装饰品来到市场，进入最近的金匠店，主动提出出售它们，并询问它们值多少钱。陛下很清楚，园丁、裁缝和金匠都是众所周知的不诚实者，这个人也不例外。他看着学生的脸，感到疑惑，因为他带来了他似乎不知道其价值的物品。他突然想到，也许可以讨价还价，填饱自己的金库，于是他出价了大约千分之一。学生拒绝了，因为他希望事情进一步发展。然后，金匠看到他要离开，就跳了起来，站在门口，威胁如果年轻人拒绝交出他说最近从他的店里被偷的贵重物品，就打电话给司法人员。学生对此只是一笑置之，金匠则认真考虑是否要执行他的威胁，犹豫不决，只是因为他知道司法官员通过这一行动获得的利益将比他更多。正当他心存疑虑时，一道阴影笼罩了他的店面，城里的首席珠宝商闯了进来。当这些装饰品被展示给他的那一刻，他认出了它们，并说：“这些珠宝属于 Raja Dantawat 的女儿；这些珠宝属于 Raja Dantawat 的女儿。”我很了解它们，因为我几个月前才设定了它们！”然后他转向手中还握着这些贵重物品的弟子，喊道：“你老实告诉我，你从哪里得到这些东西的？”

正当他们说话的时候，十来二十人聚集了过来，最后，报告传到了弓箭手长那里。他派了一名士兵将学生、金匠、首席珠宝商以及装饰品带到他面前。当所有人都到了正义大厅的时候，他看着这些珠宝，对年轻人说道：“你老实告诉我，你从哪里得到这些珠宝的？”

“我的上师，”瓦吉拉姆古特假装非常害怕，说道，“他现在正在城外的墓地里做礼拜，他给了我这些白色的石头，并吩咐我把它们卖掉。我怎么知道他从哪里得到它们？陛下，请您放过我吧，因为我是一个无辜的人。”

“派人去请苦行僧吧，”科特瓦尔命令道。[69]警察长官，卡蒙斯的卡图尔。 然后，他将两人连同珠宝带到丹塔瓦特国王面前，讲述了整个情况。

国王闻言问道：“师父，这些珠宝是从哪里得来的？”

精神导师在屈尊回答之前，从腋下抽出一张黑羚羊皮，将其摊开并小心地抚平，然后将其用作阿三。[70]印度教苦行者的座位。 然后他开始用手指拨弄一串念珠，每颗念珠都有鸡蛋那么大，在咕哝和摇头中度过了近一个小时后，他目不转睛地看着拉贾，抱怨道：

“湿婆！伟大的国王，他们是我自己的。夜里月十四，我为了完成女巫的咒语，来到了焚烧尸体的地方。经过漫长而辛苦的分娩后，她出现了，但她的举止如此不守规矩，我不得不责骂她。如果我没记错的话，我用我的三叉戟击中了她的左腿。由于她仍然不听话，我为了惩罚她，把她的珠宝和衣服都脱光了，让她去哪儿就去哪儿。即便如此，这对她来说也没什么影响——我从来没有见过如此邪恶的女巫。就这样，这些珠宝就归我所有了。”

Raja Dantawat 被这句话惊呆了。他请求苦行僧暂时不要离开宫殿，然后就走进了女人们的私人寓所。他首先遇见了太后，对她说：“我的母亲啊，赶紧去看看帕德玛瓦蒂的左腿，看看有没有痕迹，是什么样的痕迹！”不久她回来了，来到国王面前说：“儿子，我发现你的女儿躺在床上，抱怨说她遇到了意外；确实，帕德玛瓦蒂一定很痛苦。我发现某种尖锐的三尖器械伤到了她。女孩说钉子伤害了她，但我还没听说过钉子能扎三个洞。然而，我们都必须抓紧时间，否则屋子里就会出现丹毒、肿​​胀、坏疽、屈辱、截肢，甚至可能会死亡。”老王后总结道，一边欣喜地期待着这些可怕的后果，一边匆匆离去。

有那么一刻，丹塔瓦特国王的心都快要碎了。但他习惯于控制自己的感情；他迅速将反思的缰绳运用到激情的野马身上。他心里想：“家里的事，心里的事，有什么损失，都不应该向任何人透露。既然帕德玛瓦蒂是女巫，她就不再是我的女儿了。我确实要去请教精神导师。”

说完这句话，国王走到外面，古鲁仍然坐在他的黑皮上，用三叉戟在地板上做着记号。在请求将学生送走并清理完房间后，他对乔吉说：“圣人啊！佛法中对犯有令人发指的巫术罪行的妇女给予什么惩罚[71]印度教经文。？“

“伟大的国王！”奉献者回答说：“《佛法经典》中这样写道：‘如果一个婆罗门、一头牛、一个女人、一个孩子，或者任何其他可能依赖我们的人，如果犯了背信弃义的行为，他们将受到惩罚。是他们被驱逐出这个国家。无论他们多么该死，我们都不能让他们流血，就像拉克希米那样[72]繁荣女神。 因这件事而惊恐万状。”

听到这些话，国王带着许多感谢和大礼送走了上师。他一直等到夜幕降临，然后命令一群值得信赖的人在不惊动家人的情况下抓住帕德玛瓦蒂，并将她带到一个充满恶魔、老虎和熊的遥远丛林中，并在那里抛弃她。

与此同时，苦行僧和他的徒弟赶往墓地，恢复了原本的衣着。然后他们去了老护士家，报答了她的盛情款待，直到她痛哭流涕，束起武器，骑上马，跟随从丹塔瓦特国王宫殿大门出来的队伍。人们很容易相信，他们毫不费力地说服这个可怜的女孩用她在野生丛林中的机会来换取成为瓦吉拉姆库特妻子的前景——在贝拿勒斯合法结婚。她甚至没有问她家里是否有情敌——你知道，女人在通常情况下从来不会忽视这个问题。几天后，两个同爱的朝圣者到达了他们父亲的家，所有人，无论大小，都感到无比的喜悦。

“现在，拉贾·维克拉姆！”拜塔尔说：“你话不多；毫无疑问，你会被一个故事所吸引，其中一个男人用女人自己的武器——欺骗来殴打她。但我警告你，如果你不下定决心并解释这件事，你一定会堕入那拉克（地狱）。这四人之中，谁的罪责最大呢？情人[73]在原著中，情人并没有受到责备；这就是印度教对此事的看法；我们可能会想起一条古老的禁令，即不要用母乳煮孩子。 情人的朋友，女孩，还是父亲？”

“就我而言，我认为帕德玛瓦蒂是最糟糕的，她是他们所有麻烦的根源，”达玛·德瓦吉喊道。国王说了一些关于年轻人以及视觉和听觉两种感觉的事情，但他的儿子非常同情他，所以他立即原谅了他的打扰。最后，维克拉姆决定伸张正义，不顾自己的意愿，他说：“拉贾·丹塔瓦特是罪魁祸首。”

“他在哪方面有过错？”拜塔尔好奇地问道。

维克拉姆国王给了他这样的答复：“瓦吉拉姆库特王子受到爱神的诱惑是疯了，因此不对他的行为负责。大臣的儿子顺从地完成了主人的事情，不考虑原因，也不问问题——对于一个只需要按照命令去做的依赖者来说，这是非常优秀的品质。至于那个年轻女子，我只能说她是一个年轻女子，因此必然是一个可能的女凶手。但是拉贾，一位王子，一个有一定年龄和经验的人，一个八个孩子的父亲！他不应该被如此浅薄的诡计所欺骗，也不应该不加思考就将他的女儿驱逐出境。”

“格拉姆西给你！”吸血鬼喊道，爆发出一阵不和谐的笑声，“我现在回到我的树上。靠我的尾巴！我从来没有听过一个王公如此轻易地谴责一个王公。”说完，他脱下了布，让布空空地挂在伟大国王的肩膀上。

维克拉姆站了一会儿，茫然地站在原地。不久，他回过神来，又原路返回，儿子跟在他的后面，登上了父树，拆下了拜塔尔，像以前一样收拾好行李，再次上路。

不久之后，战士王的背后响起了一个声音，开始讲述另一个真实的故事。

从前，在博加瓦蒂这座伟大的城市里，住着一位年轻的王子，我可以说，他与陛下这位可爱的儿子惊人地相似。

拉贾·维克拉姆沉默了，也没有承认拜塔人间接的恭维。他讨厌阿谀奉承，但他喜欢在受奉承时，亲自受人奉承。这是他们皇家赞助人性格中的一个特征，科学九颗宝石已经将其归为自己的帐户。

现在，年轻的拉贾·拉姆王子（故事讲述者继续）有一位年老的父亲，我可以说，无论是作为一个男人还是作为一个父母，他都非常不像你的拉贾王。他喜欢打猎、掷骰子，白天睡觉，晚上喝酒，吃长补品，又喜欢看淫荡的姑娘的闲适，喜欢谈恋爱的虚荣。但他深受孩子们的喜爱，因为他不辞辛劳地赢得了孩子们的心。他并没有规定，如果他的后代忽视了无故给予他所有感情的义务，他们就一定会去帕塔拉，因为你道德高尚、德高望重的父亲们太恰当了—— 。哎呀！哎呀！

这些声音从吸血鬼的嘴唇中发出，战士之王愤怒得说不出话来，把手伸到背后，恶毒地卷起说话者的一块皮肤。这让吸血鬼放声大哭，然而，更多的是嘲笑，而不是真正的痛苦，因为他很快就开始谈论同样的话题。

父辈、大王，可分为三种：顺便说一句，母亲也是一样的。首先，我们有许多想法的父母，有趣的，愉快的，当然贫穷的，以及他的孩子们的偶像。其次，有一个半想法的家长。这种人会代替你对自己说：“那个恶魔家伙说的是实话。尽管他在生活中的地位很高，但我还是不遗余力地向他学习。我将执行他的理论，只是为了看看它能走多远”；说完，他就回家了，暂时对他的孩子们表现出极大的仁慈，但这并不能持久。第三，真正的单一思想类型的父母——你自己，战士国王维克拉姆啊，一个令人钦佩的例子。你在年轻时就学到了所受的教导：例如，绿色的棍子来自天堂之树的神圣戒律；随着年龄的增长，你会实践你所学到的东西。胡须长出之前，你无法自学任何东西；胡须僵硬后，你就无法被别人教导。如果有人试图改变你的观点，你就会哭泣，

新的东西并不真实，
真实的事情并不新鲜。

然后你粗鲁地将他的手从这个话题上拉开。然而你和地球上的其他事物一样有你的用途。生前，你是磨坊轨道上的好骆驼，当你死后，你的骨灰并不比智者的骨灰更糟糕。

你们的王公会注意到（吸血鬼继续说道，因为维克拉姆开始表现出无法控制的愤怒症状）我在处理这个题外话时一直很简洁。如果我不是这样的话，我的故事就会离我很远。现在要回来了。

当老国王化为空气时，年轻的国王虽然在国库中只找到了不到十两银子，却发现了数千金两的遗产，却悲痛万分。他轻松地向自己解释说，王室金库的空虚是他亲爱的父母善良的证明，因为他爱他。

但老人却留下了一件比金银更有价值的宝藏，因为他无法随身携带：一个Churaman，一只鹦鹉，他了解世界，而且还能用最正确的梵文说话。通过明智的建议和明智的指导，这只令人钦佩的鸟儿很快就修复了他年轻主人破碎的命运。

有一天，王子说：“鹦鹉，你什么都知道：告诉我哪里有适合我的伴侣。经典告诉我们，尊重妻子的选择，“如果她不是其父系或母系祖先六代以内的后裔，则有资格与高种姓男子结婚。”在娶妻时，他要刻意避开以下家庭，无论他们多么伟大，或者多么富有牛、山羊、绵羊、黄金或谷物：没有履行规定的奉献行为的家庭；没有生育过男孩的；未读过吠陀经的；身上有浓密的毛发；以及成员患有遗传性疾病的情况。选一个身体没有缺陷的女子为妻；谁有一个好听的名字；走路优雅，像一头年轻的大象；头发和牙齿的数量和大小适中；其身体极其柔软。”

“伟大的国王，”鹦鹉丘拉曼回答道，“在马加德的国家里有一位国王，名叫马加德什瓦尔，他有一个女儿，名叫旃陀罗瓦蒂。你会娶她；她非常有学问，而且，更重要的是，她非常有学问。她的肤色是黄色的，鼻子像芝麻花一样；她的腿是尖细的，像车前草一样；她的眼睛很大，像莲花的主叶。她的眉毛伸向耳朵；她的嘴唇红红的，像芒果树的新叶；她的脸像满月；她的声音像布谷鸟的声音；她的手臂伸到膝盖；她的喉咙像鸽子的喉咙；她的胁腹很薄，就像狮子的胁腹一样；她的头发卷成只垂到腰部的样子。她的牙齿像石榴籽；她的步态就像醉酒的大象或鹅。”

国王听了鹦鹉的话，就派人去请占星师，问他：“我该嫁给谁呢？”智者查阅了他的技艺后回答说：“月德拉瓦蒂是少女的名字，你一定会和她结婚的。”于是，年轻的王公尽管从未见过他未来的王后，却情不自禁地迷恋上了她。他召唤了一位婆罗门，派他去见马加德什瓦尔国王，说道：“如果你圆满地安排了我们的婚姻，我们将丰厚地奖赏你”——这一承诺为祭司插上了翅膀。

巧的是，这位才华横溢、美丽的公主养了一只松鸦，[74]在原来的“maina”-Gracula religiosa。 他的名字叫 Madan-manjari 或 Love-garland。获得学位后，她还拥有百科全书式的知识，而且像鹦鹉一样，她能说一口流利的梵文。

简单地说，武士之王啊——你以为我在讲寓言——在远古时代，人类拥有用人类语言使鸟类对话的艺术。这项发明归功于一位伟大的哲学家，他分裂了他们的舌头，经过许多代之后，产生了一个选定的种族，这些成员分裂了。他通过在枕骨后面固定结扎线来改变他们头骨的形状，这使得枕骨突出，他们的眼睛变得突出，他们的大脑掌握了用语言表达思想的艺术。

但这个奇妙的发现，就像一般伟大哲学家的发现一样，有一个可怕的实际缺陷。鸟儿开始说话，说话明智而好，它们如此坚持地讲真话，它们如此公开地斥责它们无羽毛皮的兄弟，它们开始说话了。他们对他们的奉承很少，但他们却给他们提供了很多建议，以至于人类很快就厌倦了听他们的谈话。因此，艺术逐渐走向废止，现在它与过去的事物并列。

有一天，迷人的旃陀罗瓦提公主正与她的松鸦坐在一起进行秘密谈话。这场对话并不引人注目，因为各个年龄段的少女很少咨询她们的知己或推测未来的秘密，或要求解梦，除了一个主题。最后，公主也许是这个月第一百次说道：“杰伊，哪里有一个配得上我的丈夫？”

“公主，”马丹-曼贾里回答道，“我很高兴终于能够满足您的好奇心。事实就是这样，尽管我们性的娇嫩——”

“现在，不要说教了！”少女说； “或者你晚饭就用盐代替糖。”

杰斯，你的王公，喜欢吃糖。于是，红颜知己保留了一些她即将提出的好建议，并回答道：

“我现在看清了命运之道。博加瓦蒂 (Bhogav​​ati) 国王拉贾·拉姆 (Raja Ram) 将成为你的丈夫。他会因你而幸福，你也会因他而幸福，因为他年轻、英俊、富有、慷慨、脾气好，不太聪明，而且不可能成为一个病人。”

于是公主虽然从未见过她未来的丈夫，但立刻开始爱上他。事实上，虽然双方都没有见过对方，但两人却彼此相爱。

“怎么可能，陛下？”他父亲年轻的 Dh​​arma Dhwaj 问道。 “我一直以为——”

伟大的维克拉姆打断了他的儿子，并嘱咐他不要问愚蠢的问题。因此，他希望消除拜塔尔教义对与他不同的父母的友善所产生的邪恶影响。

如今，这两个年轻人（又恢复了拜塔尔）都出身于王公贵族，又在世上颇有名气，所以他们的爱情之路异常顺利。当罗惹罗摩派出的婆罗门抵达马加德，并向马加德王王表达国王的敬意时，马加德什瓦王热情地接待了他，并同意了他的提议。美丽公主的父亲派人去请一位自己的婆罗门，向他收取结婚礼物和习俗礼物，然后将他与另一位特使一起送回博加瓦蒂，并给了他这样的命令：“代表我向拉贾·拉姆问好，将提拉克（tilak）或标记放在他的额头上后，全速返回这里。等你回来，我就把结婚的一切都准备好。”

罗惹罗接见代表团后，非常高兴，在慷慨地赏赐婆罗门并做好一切必要的准备后，他盛装出发前往摩揭陀国，去迎接他的未婚夫。

在适当的季节，仪式会举行宴会、乐队、烟花和灯光、排练经文、歌曲、娱乐、游行和大量的噪音。姜黄刚刚从新娘美丽的手脚上消失，新郎就深情地告别了他的新父母——他在家里住的时间不长——并接受了嫁妆和彩礼，出发前往他的新家。自己的国家。

旃陀罗瓦蒂因离开母亲而感到沮丧，因此她被允许携带松鸦麦丹曼尼安 (Madanmanian)。她很快就告诉了她的丈夫她第一次听到他的名字的美妙方式，他向她讲述了他从与他的鹦鹉丘拉曼交谈中获得的好处。

“那我们为什么不按照天使婚姻（Gandharva-lagana）的仪式与这些珍贵的生物结婚后，将它们关进一个笼子呢？”迷人的女王说道。和大多数新娘一样，她非常高兴能找到结婚的机会。

哎呀！为什么不呢，亲爱的？他们肯定无法幸福地生活在世人所谓的“单身幸福”中。”年轻的国王回答道。正如新郎有时会短暂停留一样，他对婚姻的话题非常热情。

于是，主人和女主人在没有与他们的计划主要相关各方协商的情况下，在旅程结束后舒适地安顿下来后，让人搬来一个大笼子，把他们最喜欢的两个人放进去。

鹦鹉丘拉曼把头偏向一侧，用一种奇怪的眼神看着松鸦。但马丹-曼贾里把嘴高高举起，用嘴吹了一两下，然后极其蔑视地转过脸去。

“也许，”鹦鹉终于打破了沉默，说道，“你会告诉我你不想结婚吗？”

“可能吧，”松鸦回答道。

“那为什么呢？”雄鸟问道。

“因为我不选择，”雌性回答道。

“这确实是一种女性化的解决方式，”鹦鹉脱口而出。 “我借用我师父的话，称之为女人的理智，也就是说，根本没有理智。你有没有反对说得更明确一点？”

“没什么，”松鸦反驳道，她被粗鲁的含沙射影激怒了，她更直白地而不是礼貌地说出了她的想法。 “没什么，鹦鹉先生。你们这些家伙都是有罪的、奸诈的、欺骗性的、自私的、没有良心的，并且习惯于为了你们最小的欲望或方便而牺牲我们这个弱者。”

“说实话，美丽的女士，”年轻的拉贾·拉姆对他的新娘说道，“你的这只宠物实在是太无礼了。”

“主人，让她的话在你耳边如风般响起，”鹦鹉打断道。 “请祈祷，杰伊女士，你们这些女人，除了奸诈、虚伪、无知和贪婪之外，还算什么，她们在这个世界上唯一的愿望就是阻止生活变得尽可能愉快？”

“真的，我的爱人，”美丽的旃陀罗瓦蒂对她的新郎说，“你的这只鸟有一种习惯，以一种非常自由和轻松的方式表达自己的意见。”

“我可以证明我所断言的。”松鸦在公主耳边低声说道。

“我们可以用一件轶事来迷惑她们的女性思想。”鹦鹉在王子耳边低声说道。

简而言之，维克拉姆国王，两人达成了一致，即每个人都应该通过故事形式的插图来证实其所提出的内容的真相。

旃陀罗瓦蒂 (Chandravati) 声称并很快获得了松鸦的优先权。然后，奇妙的鸟，Madan-manjari，开始说话如下：

我经常告诉你，女王啊，在来到你面前之前，我的情妇是拉特纳瓦蒂，一个富有商人的女儿，最亲爱的，最可爱的——

说到这里，松鸦放声大哭，女主人也很同情。不一会儿，说话者又继续说道——

不过，我预计。在伊拉布尔市有一个富有的商人，他没有后代。因此，他不断地斋戒和朝圣，在家时他总是阅读《往世书》，并向婆罗门布施。

最后，在神的眷顾下，这位商人生了一个儿子，他以盛大而欢乐的方式庆祝了他的诞生，并向婆罗门和吟游诗人赠送了大量礼物，并大部分分发给饥饿、口渴和贫穷的人。 。当这个男孩五岁时，他教他读书，长大后，他被送到一位大师那里，这位大师以前是学生，被誉为老师和讲师。

随着时间的推移，商人的儿子长大了。赞美梵天！
那是多么美好的青春啊，脸像猴子，腿像狗
鹳的背，还有骆驼的背。你知道那句古老的谚语：——

预计跛行者会造成三十二个恶棍，八十个
来自独眼人，
但当驼背到来时，请说：“上帝保佑我们！”

他没有去读书，而是去和其他无所事事的人一起赌博，他对他们说话很随意，并教导他们像他自己一样心怀恶意。他和每个女人都做爱，尽管他长得丑陋，但他也并非不成功。因为无论是非常英俊还是非常丑陋的人，只要他们都引人注目，都同样幸运。但后者却夺走了手掌。美丽的男人从女人开始，尽一切可能吸引她们，爱她们如掌上明珠，发现她们是傻瓜，与她们平等，欺骗她们，然后迅速鄙视她们。丑男人则不然，他因为相貌丑陋，就必须绞尽脑汁、煞费苦心，尽可能地讨人喜欢，直到女人忘记他的猿脸、鸟腿和驼背。 。

而且，驼背还成为了密宗，以完成他的恶行。他由一位背道的婆罗门正式启蒙，宣布放弃旧宗教的所有仪式，摆脱了他们的束缚，并开始执行一项可恶的仪式以表示喜悦。八男八女——婆罗门女、舞女、织布女、名声不好的女人、洗衣妇、理发师的妻子、挤奶女工、地主的女儿——选择了最黑暗的时刻在夜晚和房子里最秘密的地方，他和他们一起喝酒，被洒水和涂油，并经历了许多不光彩的仪式，比如赤身裸体坐在尸体上。老师告诉他，他不能沉溺于羞耻感，或对任何事物感到厌恶，也不能偏爱某物而不是另一物，也不能考虑种姓、仪式的洁净或不洁，而要自由地享受所有感官的快乐——当然，就是这样。 ，酒和我们，因为我们是丘比特妻子的代表，酒可以防止感官误入歧途。圣人认为，抑制或消灭情欲对于最终的幸福至关重要，他们通过身体的苦行和避免诱惑来实现这一目标，但他却通过过度的放纵来钝化情欲的边缘。他嘲笑虔诚者，提醒他们，他们的苦行者只有在森林里并且保持永久斋戒时才是安全的；但当他最想要的东西出现时，他就能抑制住自己的激情。

不久，这位优秀青年的父亲去世了，给他留下了巨大的财富。他如此虔诚、如此强烈地抑制了自己的激情，以至于在短短几年内，他的财产就化为乌有了。然后他转向邻居的货物，并一度繁荣起来，直到被发现抢劫，才险些逃脱了火刑柱。最后他大声说道：“让诸神灭亡吧！这些无赖们只给我带来了厄运！”说着，他起身逃离了自己的国家。

偶然的机会，那个驼背恶棍来到了钱德拉普尔市，在那里，他听到我的主人赫姆古普特的名字，想起他父亲最富有的通讯员之一就是这么称呼的。于是，他像往常一样大胆地出现在家里​​，走进去，虽然衣衫褴褛，但他自我介绍，告诉了他父亲的名字和情况，痛哭起来。

看到老朋友的儿子陷入如此悲惨的境地，这位好心人感到非常惊讶，同时也感到悲伤。然而他站了起来，拥抱了年轻人，并询问他来的原因。

“我载了一艘船，”假驼背说道，“目的是去某块土地进行贸易。到了那里，我处理掉了我的货物，然后又带上了另一批货物，踏上了回家的旅程。忽遇大风浪，船失事，我乘木板逃生，不一会儿就到了这里。但我感到羞愧，因为我失去了所有的财富，我无法在自己的城市面对这种困境。我优秀的父亲会用他的怜悯来安慰我。但现在我已经把他和我母亲带到了恒河，[75]正如我们应该说的，埋葬了他们。 所有人都会背叛我；他们会因我的不幸而幸灾乐祸，他们会指责我愚蠢和鲁莽——唉！唉！我实在是太惨了。”

我亲爱的主人被这个坏蛋的狡猾欺骗了。他热情款待了他，他很乐意接受，并以客人的身份招待了他一段时间。然后，亨古普特有理由对他的行为感到满意，向他承认了自己的秘密，并最终让他成为了自己生意的合伙人。简而言之，这个恶棍的牌打得太好了，商人最后对自己说：

“多年来，我的家里一直充满焦虑和灾难。邻居们议论我不利，胆子大的人彼此惊讶地说：“七八岁就嫁女儿了，这确实是法律规定的，那段日子早已过去了，现在就这样吧。”她现在已经十三、十四岁了，身材高大，精力充沛，就像一个三十岁的已婚妇女。家里有这种不名誉的东西，她父亲怎么能吃得安心，睡得舒心呢？目前，他感到羞耻，而他已故的朋友也因他在自然规定的期限之外保留一个女孩而遭受痛苦。现在，当我安静地坐在家里时，薄伽梵（神）消除了我所有的不安：在他的恩惠下，这样的机会出现了。拖延是不对的。我最好把我的女儿嫁给他。今天能做的都是最好的；谁知道明天会发生什么？

老人这样想着，就走到妻子面前，对她说：“生、嫁、死，皆在神明的指引下，皆有天意。”谁能说他们什么时候会属于我们？我们希望给我们的女儿找一个出身名门、富有、英俊、聪明、有尊严的年轻人。但我们没有找到他。你说，如果新郎有错，一切都会出错。我不能用绳子套住我们女儿的脖子，然后把她扔进沟里。然而，如果你认为商人的儿子（现在是我的伴侣）不错，我们将庆祝拉特纳瓦蒂与他的婚姻。”

妻子被驼背的虚伪所折服，也很高兴，说道：“大人！当神如此明确地表明他的愿望时，我们就应该这样做；因为，虽然我们静静地坐在家里，但我们内心的愿望已经实现了。最好不要拖延：迅速召集家庭牧师，并确定了一个吉利的行星合相后，就可以庆祝婚礼了。”

然后他们打电话给他们的女儿——啊，我！她是多么美丽的存在啊，值得干达婆（半神）的爱。她的长发呈紫色，闪烁着青春的光芒，像布拉姆拉的头发一样光滑。[76]一种大型黑蜂，常见于印度。 翅膀;她的眉宇纯净如玛瑙；她的嘴唇旁边的海珊瑚显得苍白，她的牙齿像两串珍珠。她身上的一切都是为了被爱而生的。谁能看着她的眼睛而不想再做一次呢？谁听到她的声音而不希望这样的音乐再次响起？她很善良，也很公平。她的父亲很崇拜她；她的母亲虽然是个中年妇女，但并不羡慕或嫉妒她。亲戚们都很疼爱她，朋友们也挑不出她的毛病。如果我告诉她宝贵的品质，我就永远不会结束。唉，唉！我可怜的拉特纳瓦蒂！

说着，松鸦流下了很多眼泪；然后她继续说道：

当她的父母告诉我的女主人他们的决定时，她回答说：“萨杜——很好！”她不像大多数年轻女子，她们最讨厌的就是长辈命令她们去爱的男人。她低下头，答应服从，不过，正如她后来告诉母亲的那样，由于他极其丑陋，她几乎看不到她的意图。但不久驼背的机智就战胜了她的厌恶。她感谢他对她父母的关心；她尊重他的道德和宗教行为。她为他的不幸而怜悯他，最后她忘记了他的脸、腿和背部，因为她钦佩她所认为的他的思想。

她在婚前就发誓要忠实地履行妻子的所有职责，无论这些职责对她来说有多么令人反感。但在婚礼推迟不久之后，她毫不惊讶地发现自己爱自己的丈夫。她不仅没有想到他的特征和身材，而且还没有想到他的样子。我确实相信，她因为他的令人厌恶而更加爱他。丑陋、非常丑陋的男人比女人更受欢迎有两个原因。首先，我们从厌恶开始，这种厌恶自然会变成喜爱；我们都最喜欢的东西，当不习惯时，我们最不喜欢的东西。因此，诗人用与男性一样真实的话说：

永远不要绝望，哦人类！当女人的怨恨
厌恶你的名字并厌恶你的目光：
有时候她的心会学会更爱你
对于之前感受到的狂野的仇恨，等等。

其次，非常丑陋的人看起来很欺骗性，对自己的外表不以为然，他会费尽心思去追求一颗心，因为他知道心不会追随他。此外，我们女人（松鸦说）生性可怜，我们的敌人称这是“奇怪的反常行为”。一个寡妇如果失去了一个小东西，她会感到悲伤，这个小东西，面容干瘪，腿干瘪，丑陋，恶毒，脾气暴躁，骂她，与她争吵，殴打她，让她的日子过得苦不堪言。而如果她的丈夫勇敢、英俊、慷慨，她会以堪称典范的毅力追随他到恒河——

“要么闭嘴，要么继续讲你的故事，”武士国王喊道，这些话在他心中引起了家人的不快。

“你好！你好！你好！”恶魔笑道； “我会服从陛下的命令，让厌世的松鸦马丹-曼贾里继续前进。”

是的，她喜欢驼背；我们的爱是多么美好啊！松鸦说。从天而降的光芒，给这片暗淡的大地带来了幸福！落在精神上的咒语，让我们想起更高的存在！幸福的回忆！一份礼物的喜悦！是对未来幸福的真诚！它使丑陋变得美丽，愚昧变得聪明，使年老变得年轻，使邪恶变得善良，使忧郁变得和蔼可亲，使低俗变得宽宏，使乖僻变得美丽，使粗俗变得辛辣。确实，它是至高无上的炼金术，是我们的爱，是混合矛盾的绝佳助熔剂，松鸦喊道。

说着，她得意地看了鹦鹉一眼，鹦鹉只是说，他本来希望她的话更有创意一点。

几个月来（Madan-manjari 继续），新娘和新郎在 Hemgupt 的房子里幸福地生活在一起。但据说：

老虎还没有变成羔羊；

驼背觉得他的激情又要减弱了。他反思道：“智慧就是不执着，爱子女、爱妻子、爱家庭。”然后他对我可怜的年轻女主人这样说道：

“我来你的国家已经有几年了，我没有听到我家人的消息，所以我的心情很悲伤，我已经告诉了你我的一切；现在你必须请你母亲让我去我自己的城市，如果你愿意的话，你可以和我一起去。”

拉特纳瓦蒂立即对母亲说：“我的丈夫希望访问他自己的国家；你能这样安排，让他不会因为这件事而痛苦吗？”

母亲去找丈夫说：“你女婿要请假回自己的国家去。”

赫姆古普特回答道：“很好；我们将准许他休假。一个人对另一个人的儿子没有权力。我们会按照他的意愿去做。”

父母随后打电话给女儿，让她告诉他们她真正的愿望——是去公公家，还是留在娘家。对于这个问题，她感到羞愧，无法回答。但她回到丈夫身边，说道：“正如我父母所说，你们应该随心所欲，不要丢下我。”

不久，商人召见了他的女婿，赐予了他大量的财富，并允许他离开。又辞别女儿，赐轿子和女奴。父母带着痛苦的泪水与他们告别。他们的心都碎了。我的也是如此。

有几天，驼背和他的妻子一起静静地走着，陷入了沉思。他不能带她去他的城市，在那里她会发现他邪恶的生活，以及他对她父亲的欺骗。更何况，他虽然想要她的钱，但绝不是想要她陪伴一生。在他邪恶的头脑中开启了许多计划之后，他突然想到了以下几点：

当他们在茂密的丛林中的一个小棚子里停下来时，他让抬轿的人走开，并对他的妻子说：“这里是一个危险的地方，不要担心。”把你的珠宝给我，我会把它们藏在我的腰披里。当你到达城市时，你可以再穿上它们。”然后她把所有非常有价值的装饰品都交给了他。于是，他将婢女骗入密林深处，将她杀害，并留下她的尸体，任野兽吞噬。最后，回到可怜的女主人身边，他诱使她离开小屋，并强行将她推入枯井，然后他带着不义之财独自出发，向自己的城市走去。

与此同时，一个路过丛林的行人，听到哭泣声，站住了，自言自语道：“这片荒林里，怎么会听到凡人悲伤的声音呢？”然后顺着声音的方向，把他引到了一个坑里，从旁边往外看，看到一个女人在坑底哭泣。旅行者立刻松开了腰带，把它系在头巾上，然后放下绳子，把可怜的新娘拉了出来。他问她是谁，怎么会掉进那口井里。她回答说：“我是昌德拉普尔市最富有的商人亨古普特的女儿；当我和丈夫一起前往他自己的国家时，强盗袭击了我们并包围了我们。他们杀了我的女仆，把我扔进井里，把我的丈夫绑起来，连同我的珠宝一起带走。我没有他的消息，他也没有我的消息。”说着，她泪流满面，悲叹不已。

路上的男人相信了她的故事，并带她回家，在那里她同样讲述了发生在她身上的事故，最后说道：“除此之外，我不知道他们是否杀了我的丈夫，或者放了他。” ”。父亲这样安抚了她的悲伤：“女儿！没有焦虑；你的丈夫还活着，按照神的旨意，几天后他就会来找你。小偷偷走的是人们的钱，而不是他们的生命。”然后，父母送给她比她失去的那些更珍贵的装饰品。他们召集了亲戚朋友，尽力安慰她。

我也是。与此同时，邪恶的驼背回到了自己的城市，在那里他受到了很好的接待，因为他带来了很多财富。他的老同事们欣喜地簇拥在他身边。他又陷入了以前困扰他的同样的境地。赌博和放荡很快就削弱了他的热情，也掏空了他的钱包。他的恩惠同伴再次发现他没有破损的贝壳，就把他赶出了家门，他偷了东西，并因偷窃而受到鞭打。最后，他饿得半死，逃离了这座城市。于是他自言自语道：“我得去见我的岳父，借口说他生了孙子，是来给他贺喜的。”

然而，想象一下，当他走进房子时，他的妻子站在他面前，他的恐惧和惊讶。他起初以为是鬼，转身就跑，她却出来说：“夫君，别慌！我告诉我父亲，有贼来袭击我们，杀了女奴，抢了我的东西，把我扔进井里，把你绑起来，把你带走了。讲同样的故事，收起所有焦虑的情绪。上来把你的破衣服换掉——唉！你遭遇了一些不幸。但安慰自己吧；现在一切都好了，因为你回到了我身边，不要害怕，因为房子是你的，我是你的奴隶。”

这个可怜的人，虽然心肠刚硬，却忍不住流下了眼泪。他跟着妻子来到她的房间，她给他洗脚，洗澡，给他穿上新衣服，并把食物放在他面前。当她的父母回来时，她把他抱在怀里，高兴地说：“我的父母啊，与我一起快乐吧！强盗们终于允许他回到我们身边了。”当然，父母被欺骗了，他们大多是盲人种；亨古普特对他毫无价值的女婿表现出极大的宠爱，大声说道：“我的孩子，留下来吧，祝你幸福！”

两三个月以来，驼背和妻子安静地生活着，对她很友善，甚至是深情。但这并没有持续多久。他结识了一群盗贼，并与他们商定了自己的计划。

过了一段时间，有一天晚上，他的妻子戴上了所有的珠宝，来到他身边睡着了。半夜，他见她睡熟了，就用刀砍她，结果她死了。然后他承认了他的同伙，他们残忍地谋杀了亨古普特和他的妻子。在他们的帮助下，他拿走了任何他能拿到手的贵重物品。凶恶的恶棍！当他经过我的笼子时，他看了看它，心想他是否有时间扭断我的脖子。狗的叫声救了我的命；但我的情妇，我可怜的拉特纳瓦蒂——啊，我！啊，我！——

“王后，”松鸦悲痛万分地说，“这一切都是我亲眼所见，亲耳所闻。它影响了我早年的生活，让我不喜欢异性社会。出于对你的尊重，我决定继续做一名老处女。请陛下反思一下，我可怜的主妇犯了什么罪？男性的性情就像拦路抢劫的强盗；与这样的人建立友谊的她，怀里抱着一条黑色的毒蛇。”

“鹦鹉先生，”松鸦转向她的求爱者说道，“我已经说过了。我无话可说，但你们这些家伙都是奸诈、自私、邪恶的种族，创造出来的明确目的就是为了解决我们世俗的灾难，而且——”

“我的国王啊，当一只雌性鹦鹉断言她无话可说时，”鹦鹉丘拉曼用响亮的教条声音插嘴道，“我知道她所说的只是为了她的意思而磨砺她的舌头。说。这人说得已经够长了，也够沉闷的了。”

“那么，请告诉我，鹦鹉啊，”国王说，“异性可能有什么缺点。”

丘拉曼说：“我要讲述的是，在我年轻时发生的一件事情，决定了我作为一个老单身汉生活和死去。”

当我还是一只小鸟的时候，在我开始上学之前，我在马来亚土地上被捕，并被卖给了一位名叫萨加达蒂（Sagardati）的非常富有的商人，他是一位鳏夫，有一个女儿贾亚什里（Jayashri）女士。当她的父亲整天半夜都在他的账房里度过时，欺骗他的账本并责骂他的作家，那个年轻的女人比她这个年龄的人拥有更多的自由，但她却严重滥用了它。

国王啊！男人在制造“家祸”时犯了两大错误，一是警惕过度，二是警惕不足。有些父母对自己的女儿始终不离不弃，怀疑她们有不怀好意的念头，而且还愚蠢地表现出自己的怀疑，这反而助长了她们做坏事的动机。因为那些意志薄弱的事物自然会说：“我立刻就会变得邪恶。我现在除了承受邪恶带来的所有痛苦和惩罚，而不享受它的乐趣之外，还能做什么呢？”因此他们犯下了许多恶行；因为，无论父母多么警惕，女儿总是会蒙蔽他们的眼睛。

另一方面，许多父母对他们的孩子毫不在意：他们让孩子无所事事，这是坏事的根源；它们允许他们与恶人交往，并给予他们自由，从而孕育机会。因此，他们也落入了不义之人的网罗之中，他们是比义人更加辛苦的族类，犯下了许多邪恶的行为。

那么，明智的父母应该做什么呢？明智的人会研究孩子的性格，并相应地修改他们的治疗方法。如果女儿生性善良，就会受到谨慎的信任。如果她恶毒，人们就会对她产生明显的信任；但她的父母会暗自警惕。单一想法——

“我想，所有这些鹦鹉学舌的废话只是为了惹恼我，”武士国王喊道，他总是很自然地认为自己是一个在其他人的思想和思想中占据最高地位的人。 “如果你必须讲一个故事，那就讲一个吧，吸血鬼！要么保持沉默，因为我对你的通灵能力感到厌倦。”

“很好，战士之王啊，”拜塔尔继续说道。

鹦鹉 Churaman 为年轻的 Raja Ram 提供了一座金矿，里面充满了有关女儿管理的好建议，之后他开始描述 Jayashri。

她身材高大、粗壮，身材匀称，气质优雅，但热情却很强烈。她那双漂亮的大眼睛有厚重的、相当丰满的眼睑，这是要避免的。她的双手匀称而不小，掌心永远温暖湿润。虽然她的嘴唇很好，但她的嘴却有些下垂。她的声音是如此低沉，有时听起来像一个男人的声音。她的头发光滑如栉鸡翎羽，肤色如茉莉花嫩。这些是大多数人所关注的点。总而言之，她不帅也不丑，这是女人身上的一大优点。西塔女神[77]半神罗摩·钱德拉的美丽妻子。 可爱得过分；因此她被恶魔带走了。巴厘王非常慷慨，他掏空了他的国库。这样，夸大其词，即使是好事，也是极其糟糕的。

但我必须承认，鹦鹉继续说，一般来说，美丽的女人比丑陋的女人更贤惠。前者经常受到诱惑，但她的虚荣和自负使她能够抵制，并自我承诺她将一次又一次地受到诱惑。另一方面，丑女人必须诱惑而不是被诱惑，她必须屈服，因为她的虚荣心和自负是通过屈服而不是抵抗得到满足的。

“嗬，在那儿！”松鸦轻蔑地插话道。 “哪个女人不能赢得那些愚蠢的男人的心呢？不是说住在兰丹普尔的猪脸女有情人吗？”

我正要说，我的国王！鹦鹉有点恼火地说，如果不是老处女打断我的话，丑女人比漂亮女人更恶毒，所以她们是最成功的。 “我们爱美丽，我们爱平淡”，这是世间智者的至理名言。为什么我们喜欢平原？因为他们似乎更关心我们而不是他们自己——这是崇拜的重要条件。

贾亚什丽凭借她所拥有的美貌，更多的是她的无礼，以及她父亲富有的名声，取得了一些胜利。她实在是太无耻了，当时从来不让自己的崇拜者少于六人。她的主要乐趣是接连与他们进行面谈，但间隔时间很短，以至于她不得不匆忙离开其中一个，以便为另一次腾出空间。当一个情人碰巧嫉妒，或者冒险以任何方式批评她的安排时，她立即回应，带他出去。回答无解！

当贾亚什里 (Jayashri) 十三岁时，商人的儿子，也是她父亲的八卦人物和邻居，在遥远的土地上长期逗留后回到家乡，他去那里寻找财富。这个可怜的可怜虫，顺便说一下，他的名字叫Shridat（财富的礼物），在她童年时就爱过她；但她却爱上了她。他回来了，就像人们在离开熟悉的场景后往往会做的那样，痛苦地充满了对房子和家以及属于它的一切的感情。从他那吝啬的老叔叔到咆哮的看门狗，他用爱的眼睛和融化的心看待这一切。他看不到他的偶像已经发生了巨大的变化，并且没有任何好转。她的鼻子更宽，更像棍棒，她的眼睑更肥更厚，她的下唇更突出，她的声音更刺耳，她的举止更粗俗。他没有注意到，她很擅长判断男人的衣着，而且她对所有的剑客，尤其是那些骑着马和象作战的剑士，都充满钦佩。记忆的魅力，将过去的时光变成现在的奇妙能力，使他所看到的一切都对他着迷。

在获得父亲的许可后，什里达特向贾亚什里申请订婚，贾亚什里以特有的大胆态度决定，任何追求者都不能通过她的父母来找她。而她，在以她的情妇的种种卖弄手段引诱他之后，拒绝嫁给他，说她喜欢他作为朋友，但会讨厌他作为丈夫。

你看，我的国王！女人对主人的感情有三种：爱、恨、冷漠。其中，爱情是最脆弱、最短暂的，因为本质上不稳定的生物很容易陷入其中，也很容易脱离爱情。如果一个男人有足够的智慧去改变，讨厌成为妹妹的兴奋很容易变成爱；恨与爱也许比爱与爱持续得更久一些。而且，人有带来改变的职业、兴奋和快乐。至于中立状态，那位诗人对他的想法并不满意，他唱道——

当出现冷漠或蔑视时，
然后，伙计，绝望吧！那么，不幸的情人，哀悼吧！

对于一个精通 Lila Shastra 的人[78]印度教的Ars Amoris。 很快就会把女人的冷漠变成仇恨，而我已经证明，仇恨很容易转变为爱。在哪个困境中又是旧事重演，又以纯粹的阿萨特结束[79]古老的哲学家相信“Sat”（xx xx），并假设了“Asat”（xx xx xx），并将后者作为前者的根源。 或无实体。

“强大的维克拉姆国王，松鸦和鹦鹉这两种鸟中哪一种更深入地了解了人性？”恶魔用哄骗的语气问道。

这次的陷阱设置得太公开了，即使是皇室人士也无法落入其中。他匆匆忙忙地叫着儿子，却没有回答。因此，吸血鬼在他中断的地方继续讲述他的故事。

当施里达特听到偶像的决心时，他陷入了绝望。他想过淹死自己，从吉纳尔山顶跳下去，[80]印度西部，一个以自杀而闻名的地方。 成为宗教乞丐；简而言之，是大量的愚蠢行为。但他没有采取所有这些英雄般的补救措施来应对绝望，因为当他变得稍微平静一些时，他正确地判断出他们不太可能进一步推进他的诉讼。他发现耐心是一种美德，于是他不耐烦地决定去实践它。并且凭借坚持不懈，他成功了。对他来说更糟糕！人的愿望是多么虚无啊！神灵是多么明智啊，他对他们的愿望充耳不闻！

贾亚什里（Jayashri）出于她自己最清楚的有力原因，在施里达特回国六个月后与他结婚。他欣喜若狂。他称自己是世界上最幸福的人。他感谢薄伽梵聆听他的祈祷，并为此做出了牺牲。他怀着激动的心情回忆起自己在远离一切所爱的一切、绝望地流放中度过的漫长岁月，他的悲伤和焦虑，他的希望和欢乐，他的辛劳和烦恼，他忠诚的爱情和他对天堂的幸福誓言。他的偶像，并促进他最深切的愿望。

因为他真的爱她，鹦鹉继续说，这样的爱里有一些神圣的东西。它不仅成为一种信仰，而且成为最好的信仰——一种自我克制，将精神从最直接、最世俗的束缚——“我”中解放出来；进入天堂的第一步；通过受造物向造物主表达敬意；一种坚定的、实际的、热情的奉献，不像大多数的崇拜那样，是一种冷漠、毫无生气的抽象；人性与超自然世界的一种更高尚、更高的精神存在的融合。因为完美的爱情就是完美的幸福，也是人类唯一的完美；恶魔不就是没有爱的存在吗？男人的爱之所以真正神圣，是因为它被赋予了女人这样的东西。

“现在，拉贾·维克拉姆，”吸血鬼以他自己的身份说道，“我已经向您介绍了松鸦 Madanmanjari 和鹦鹉 Churaman 对温柔激情的定义，或者更确切地说，是他们对其效果的描述。请注意，我远未接受其中之一。在我看来，爱情有点类似于狂热，是一种暂时的自私状态，一种短暂的身份混乱。它使人能够断言其他人就是他的另一个自我，而他羞于谈论他的真实自我。我会假设心爱的对象是丑陋的、愚蠢的、恶毒的、乖僻的、自私的、低俗的，或者相反；人们发现它是迷人的，同样的规则也使得他的缺点和缺点比他邻居的所有美德和良好品质对他来说更加珍贵。你们称爱情为咒语、炼金术、神灵。为什么？因为它在完全不以自我为中心的面具下，通过满足所有人的骄傲、虚荣和自负来神化自我。当他谈论自己时，谁不是在天堂呢？还有，请问，恋人之间的谈话还有什么内容呢？

令人惊讶的是，武士之王居然允许这场演讲持续这么久。人到中年，他最痛恨的莫过于长篇大论地提到“英俊的神”。[81]卡玛德瓦。 “你这家伙，你除了女士们什么都不说吗？”他徒劳地试图用愤怒的嘟囔来阻止拜塔尔的雄辩，但他却如此用力、如此粗鲁地摇晃了那个老话多的人，以至于后者有一两次差点咬掉他的舌尖。然后吸血鬼沉默了，维克拉姆又开始散步，故事又重新开始了。

贾亚什里立即对她的丈夫产生了强烈的厌恶，同时对这个之前对她漠不关心的恶棍产生了强烈的感情。什里达特对她表现得越友善，她就越恼火。当她的朋友和她说话时，她扬起鼻子，扬起眉毛（表示不高兴），然后保持沉默。当丈夫对她说起情话时，她却觉得不舒服，转过脸去，斜靠在床上。然后他拿来各种衣服和饰品，献给她，说：“穿这些吧。”于是她就会更加生气，皱起眉头，转过脸去，小声地骂他“傻瓜”。她整天呆在门外，对同伴们说：“姐妹们，我的青春即将逝去，我至今还没有尝过世间的快乐。”然后她会登上阳台，透过格子往里看，看到那个恶棍走过来，她就会对她的朋友喊道：“把那个人带到我这里来。”一夜里，她翻来覆去，心里想着：“我心里很困惑，该说什么，该往哪里去。我忘记了睡眠、饥饿和口渴；无论是热还是冷，都不能让我感到清爽。”

最后，她再也无法忍受与她深爱的堕落情人的分离，她决定与他一起飞行。有一次，她以为丈夫睡熟了，就悄悄起身，离开他，在漆黑的夜色中无所畏惧地走向爱人的住处。路上有一个小脚看到她，心想：“这个女人，身披珠宝，半夜独自去哪里？”就这样，他悄悄地跟着她，注视着她。

当贾亚什里到达预定地点时，她走进屋子，发现她的爱人躺在门口。他被脚垫刺伤而死了；她却以为他按照习俗喝了醉人的大麻，便坐在地板上，抬起头，温柔地放在自己的腿上。然后，与他分离的火焰燃烧着，她开始亲吻他的脸颊，并以最大的自由和感情抚摸和爱抚他。

偶然间，一个Pisach（邪灵）坐在一棵大无花果树上[82]菩提树或菩提树，是恶魔最喜欢的栖息地。 他在房子对面，看到这一幕，他想到可以用一种特有的方式自娱自乐。于是，他从树枝上跳下来，让身体充满活力，开始回报女人的爱抚。但当贾亚什里弯下腰去亲吻他的嘴唇时，他用牙齿咬住了她的鼻尖，然后把它咬掉了。然后他从尸体中出来，回到了他刚才坐的树枝上。

贾亚什里陷入绝望。然而，她并没有失去理智，而是坐下来开始思考。当她的计划成熟后，她浑身是血地站了起来，径直朝她丈夫的家走去。一进他的房间，她就用手捂住鼻子，开始咬牙切齿，尖叫得如此剧烈，以至于家里的所有成员都惊慌了。邻居们也聚集在门口，门被锁住了，他们就破门而入，拿着灯冲了进来。他们看到妻子坐在地上，脸被打残，丈夫站在她身边，显然是在安抚她。

“噢，无知、犯罪、无耻、无情的恶棍！”人们，尤其是妇女们，纷纷喊道。 “你为什么要割掉她的鼻子，她并没有冒犯任何人？”

可怜的施里达特立刻看出了别人对他所玩的诡计，心想：“一个人不应该相信善变的思想、一条黑蛇或一个武装的敌人，一个人应该害怕一个女人的行为。诗人不能描述什么？有什么是圣人（jogi）不知道的？醉酒的人不会说些什么废话呢？女人的狡诈有什么限度？诚然，诸神对马的缺陷、云的雷鸣、女人的行为或男人未来的命运一无所知。那我们怎么知道呢？他什么也做不了，只能哭泣，并以罗勒、他的牲畜、他的谷物、一块金子以及所有神圣的东西发誓，他没有犯下罪行。

与此同时，老商人贾亚什里的父亲逃跑了，并向科特瓦尔投诉，治安法官的仆人立即被派去逮捕他的丈夫，并将他绑起来带到法官面前。后者经过适当审查后，将此事呈报国王。当时正好有必要以身作则，国王决定严惩这一罪行，并召见这对夫妻到朝廷。

当商人的女儿被要求讲述发生的事情时，她指着自己鼻子的状况说：“马哈拉吉！为什么要向我询问如此明显的事情呢？国王然后转向丈夫，请他陈述自己的辩护。他说，“我对此一无所知”，面对最有力的证据，他坚持否认自己有罪。

国王徒劳地威胁要砍掉施里达特的右手，对他拒绝认罪和求饶感到愤怒，他喊道：“我该如何惩罚像你这样的坏蛋呢？”不幸的人回答说：“陛下认为合理的事，都乐意做。”于是国王喊道：“除掉他，把他钉死”。人们听到命令，准备服从。

在施里达特离开法庭之前，一直在一旁观看的脚垫看到一个无辜的人即将受到不公正的惩罚，他大声呼喊正义，并穿过人群，决心让自己的声音被听到。于是对皇上说：“大王，善行善行，惩恶行善，是君王不变的职责。”统治者让他走近，问他是谁，他大胆地回答说：“马哈拉吉！我是一个小偷，这个人是无辜的，他的血即将流得不公正。陛下在这件事上没有做正确的事。”于是国王要求他根据自己的宗教信仰说实话。小偷明确地讲述了整个情况，当然省略了谋杀案。

“你们去吧，”国王对他的使者说，“看看那个死去的女人的情人的嘴。如果找到了鼻子，那么这个小偷证人就说的是实话，而丈夫就是一个无罪的人。”

鼻子很快在法庭上被取出，施里达特逃脱了木桩。国王让邪恶的贾亚什里的脸上沾满了油烟，并剃掉了她的头和眉毛；她被熏黑、毁容，被骑在一头四肢破烂的小驴子上，被牵着在市场和街道上转悠，之后她被永远驱逐出这座城市。然后，丈夫和小偷被带着槟榔和其他礼物打发走了，还有很多圣言，但他们都不愿意。

“我的国王，”厌女鹦鹉继续说道，“像这样的杰出人物都是女人组成的。俗话说“湿布能灭火，坏食能毁力；湿布能灭火，坏食能毁力”。儿子败坏家庭，朋友发怒夺走生命。但女人是爱与恨中的悲伤制造者，她所做的一切最终都是为了我们的利益。确实，神在这个世界上创造了一个奇怪的生物。再说一遍，“夜莺的美丽是它的歌声，科学是丑陋男人的美丽，宽恕是奉献者的美丽，女人的美丽是美德——但我们到哪里去找到它呢？”再次，“在圣贤之中，纳鲁都；百兽中，有豺狼；鸟类中，有乌鸦；在男人中，理发师；在这个世界上，女人——是最狡猾的。”

“我所告诉你的，我的国王，我亲眼所见，我亲耳所闻。当时我还年轻，但这件事对我的影响如此之大，以至于我从此认为女性是一种行走的害虫，一种两条腿的瘟疫，它们在地球上的使命，就像苍蝇和其他害虫一样，只是为了阻止我们的存在。太开心。哦，为什么孩子和小鹦鹉不会从地里的庄稼中——从发芽的树木或藤蔓上发芽呢？”

“我在想，陛下，”年轻的达摩·达瓦吉（Dharma Dhwaj）对他父亲的武士国王说道，“如果妇女们能够创作梵文诗句，她们会对我们有何评价！”

“那就把你的想法留给自己吧，”王回答道，他对儿子竟然敢说支持性别的话感到恼火。 “你总是扮演邪恶和堕落的角色——”

“请允许我，陛下，”拜塔尔打断道，“结束我的故事。”

当松鸦 Madan-manjari 和鹦鹉 Churaman 阐述了他们的信仰时，他们开始争论，言语激烈。前者坚持认为女性是地球之盐，我认为这是比喻性的说法。后者甚至断言异性没有灵魂，他们的大脑处于初级和不成熟的发展状态。于是，他的主人的新娘，美丽的旃陀罗瓦蒂，尖刻地责备了他，她告诉他，只有那些只与恶毒和下贱的人交往的女人才会有不好的看法，而他应该为虐待雌性鹦鹉而感到羞耻。 ，因为他的母亲就是其中之一。

这确实符合逻辑。

另一方面，松鸦的叛逆和叛国言论遭到了她情妇的丈夫拉贾·拉姆的严厉谴责，拉贾·拉姆虽然还是新郎，但并没有忘记他的句法的英勇规则——

男性比女性更有价值；

直到 Madan-manjari 泪流满面，宣称她的生命不值得拥有。拉贾·拉姆看着她，仿佛他可以扭断她的脖子。

简而言之，拉贾·维克拉姆，四个人都发脾气了，他们的智慧也少之又少。其中两个只是鸟儿，其他人似乎也好不到哪儿去，年轻、无知、缺乏经验，而且才刚刚结婚。那么，他们如何才能解决男人和女人相对邪恶和邪恶这样困难的问题呢？如果陛下在场，不确定性的结很快就会被您的机智、智慧、知识和经验所敏锐地解开。当然，您早就在这个问题上下定决心了？

Dharma Dhwaj 会阻止他父亲的答复。但在这个故事的过程中，这个年轻人已经两次受到谴责，他认为顺其自然是最明智的做法。

拉贾神谕地说：“女人比我们更糟糕；她们比我们更糟糕。”男人无论多么堕落，总会保留一些是非观念，但女人则不然。她根本没有这种尊重。”

“比如美丽的班加拉·拉尼（Bangalah Rani）？”拜塔尔说道​​，带着恶魔般的冷笑。

一提到一个词，说出这个词就会被处以舌头的惩罚，拉贾·维克拉姆的大脑因愤怒而旋转。他因激情的猛烈而踉踉跄跄，伸出双手阻止摔倒，把背上的包袱扔了下来。然后，拜塔尔挣脱了束缚，大声大笑，用他细长的棕色双腿以最快的速度朝树跑去。但他的活动对他没什么帮助。

国王气喘吁吁，以最快的速度跟在他后面，在他到达塞拉树之前抓住了他的尾巴，用力把他向后推倒，用脚踩在他的胸口上，抖开布后，滚了下去。猛烈地把他拽了起来，后背在石头地上撞了六次，最后猛地一拉，把他扔到了肩膀上，就像他以前做过的那样。

年轻的王子不敢陪父亲一起追赶恶魔，便慢慢地跟在后面，有好几分钟都没有加入他的行列。

但当事情恢复正常时，吸血鬼以堪称典范的耐心忍受了他无礼的惩罚，开始用甜蜜的口音说道：

“勇士之王啊，请听着，您的仆人向您讲述另一个真实的故事。”

在古老的巴德万城，战士之王啊！ （吸血鬼说道）在强大的鲁普森统治期间，拉杰什瓦尔（Rajeshwar）蓬勃发展，他是一位声名显赫的拉杰普特战士。凭借他的英勇和行为，他从军队的最底层晋升为统帅。达到这种尊严后，他并没有像其他酋长一样停止一切改进，他们高兴地休息并回报感谢。相反，他成为了一位改革家，在某种程度上重塑了孙子兵法。

他没有关注梵学家和婆罗门在研究中制定的规则和规定，而是主要参考自己的经验和判断。他抛开了经典中规定的系统性的战役计划，一时冲动而采取行动。他在选择地点、使用轻装部队、确保自己的补给同时切断敌人的补给方面都表现出了高超的技巧，这可能会令战神卡提卡亚本人羡慕不已。他发现自己部队的弓箭笨拙且使用缓慢，于是将弓箭全部更换，但最终还是失败了。他还关注了剑柄，剑柄限制了人们的抓握，但使用了一千八百年，被认为是完美的武器。他组织了一支使用火箭的特殊战士军团，很快就将其变得如此完美，通过使用它来对抗敌人的大象，他赢得了许多战役。

哦，维克拉姆，我将向你引用他卓越判断力的一个例子，然后我回到我的故事；因为你确实是一位战士国王，很可能会效仿伟大的拉杰什瓦尔将军的创新。

（吸血鬼的冷笑导致了君主的一声咕哝。）

他发现他主人的军队是从印度斯坦北部招募的，军官是刹帝利武士，这些武士之所以变得伟大，只是因为他们变老了，而且——肥胖了。因此，年轻人的精力和才华都被浪费在麻烦和混乱中。而老年人往往年纪太大，无法在没有帮助的情况下骑上战马，而且当他们骑上马时，他们也看不到前方十几码处的任何东西。但他们曾参加过某种过时的竞选活动，在拉杰什瓦尔给他们养老金和解雇之前，他们声称有权首先参加现在和未来的所有竞选活动。总司令拒绝使用任何不能站稳双腿或不能忍受一整天太阳的队长。当一名士兵在行动中表现出色时，他就会将他提升为武士阶层的权力和特权。尽管习惯上向所有参加战争的人赠送银环和银条，无论他们是坐在沙堆后面还是最先攻击敌人，但他突破了有害的他只将这种荣誉授予那些值得的人，从而使这种荣誉变得有价值。不用说，在极短的时间内，他的军队击败了每一个反对它的国王和将军。

一日，大统帅坐在门坎旁的一间屋子里，外面传来一些人的声音。拉杰什瓦尔问道：“谁在门口？我听到的声音是什么意思？”门房回答说：“这是陛下的请求。很多人来到富人家门口，就是为了谋生、求财。当他们聚在一起时，他们会谈论各种各样的事情：正是这些人现在发出了这种噪音。”

拉杰什瓦尔听到这句话，沉默了。

与此同时，一位名叫比尔巴尔（Birbal）的拉其普特人希望能找到工作，从南部地区来到了酋长的宫殿。门房听了他的故事，把情况告诉了主人，说道：“首领啊！一名武装男子来到这里，希望能找到工作，并站在门口。如果我接到命令，他就会被带到陛下面前。”

“把他带进来，”总司令喊道。

门房把他带了进来，拉杰什瓦尔问道：“拉杰普特啊，你是谁，是什么？”

比尔巴尔声称，他是一位因使用武器而享有盛誉的人，他的忠诚和勇敢之名已经传遍了巴拉特-坎达的最终目的。[83]印度。

酋长很习惯这种自我介绍的方式，这对他来说唯一的影响就是希望通过向他表明他对武器一无所知来羞辱他。因此，他命令他露出剑来完成一些壮举。

伯巴尔立刻拔出了他的好剑。猜到了酋长心中的想法，他伸出左手，食指向上伸出，刀刃如恶魔的手臂般在他的头上挥动，灵巧的一击，就削掉了一点指甲。掉落在地上，指尖上没有流一滴血。

“永远活着！”拉杰什瓦尔钦佩地喊道。然后，他向新兵提出了一些有关兵法的问题，或者更确切地说，有关他对兵法的独特看法的问题。比尔巴尔以一种精神和判断力回答了所有这些问题，使听众相信他不是普通的剑客。

于是，拉杰什瓦尔将新武装人员送往鲁普森国王的宫殿，并建议他立即投入战斗。

国王是一个寡言少语的人，听完他的统帅的话后问道：“拉杰普特啊，我该给你什么作为你日常的开支呢？”

“每天给我一千盎司黄金，”比尔巴尔说，“这样我就有了生活所需。”

“你有军队吗？”国王极为惊讶地喊道。

“我没有，”拉杰普特人有些生硬地回答。 “我首先有一个妻子；第二，儿子；第三，女儿；第四，我自己；我身边没有第五个人。”

法庭上的人闻言纷纷扭头大笑，就连那些偷看的女子，也都用面纱遮住了嘴巴。拉杰普特随后被驱散。

然而，对于人类来说，值得注意的是，世界常常以你自己的评价来看待你。你们要给自己定一个高价，每个人都要对他的邻舍说：“这个人一定有一些东西。”告诉每个人你勇敢、聪明、慷慨，甚至英俊，一段时间后他们就会开始相信你。当你这样取得成功时，说服他们比说服他们更难。因此 -

“别听他的，先生，”拉贾·维克拉姆对年轻的王子达玛·德瓦吉喊道，达玛·德瓦吉落后了一些，正在认真倾听吸血鬼的道德规范。 “别听他的。告诉我，恶棍，有了你这些卑鄙的原则，谦虚、谦虚、自我牺牲以及其他许多古纳或良好品质（哪些是好品质）会变成什么样子？

“我不知道，”拜塔尔回答道，“我也不在乎。但我习惯性地激发一系列人体的灵感让我明白了一个事实。智者了解自己，因此既不会过分谦虚，也不会过分得意，因为他与自己的塑造无关，就像与他的斗篷剪裁或腰布的合身有关一样。但是，愚人要么因与更大的愚人比较而失去理智，要么因发现自己不如其他较小的愚人而崩溃。他将这种害羞称为谦虚、谦卑等等。现在，每当走进一具尸体，无论是男人、女人还是小孩，我都感到特别谦虚；我知道我的公寓最近属于某个自负的混蛋。和-”

“你想让我把你的背撞到地上吗？”拉贾·维克拉姆愤怒地问道。

（拜塔尔嘀咕着一些难以理解的回答，说他这次偶然发现了一条形而上学的思想线索，然后继续他的故事。）

现在，国王鲁普森开始自问为什么拉杰普特人对他的服务评价如此之高。然后他想到，如果这个新兵要了这么多钱，那一定是有某种原因，而这个原因后来就会显而易见。接下来，他希望如果他给了他这么多，他的慷慨有一天可能会为他带来好处。最后，心中有了这样的想法，他把比尔巴尔和他的管家叫来，对后者说：“每天从我们的国库里给这个拉杰普特一千盎司黄金。”

据传，比尔巴尔充分利用了他的财富。他每天早上将其分成两份，其中一份分发给婆罗门和帕罗希塔。[84]古代职业牧师的名称，意思是“praepositus”或 praeses。他是酋长的朋友和顾问，国王的大臣，以及他在和平与战争中的伙伴。 （M. Muller 的《古代梵文文学》，第 485 页）。 剩下的部分分成两部分，他将一份作为施舍给朝圣者、拜拉吉斯（Bairagis）或毗湿奴的托钵僧，以及桑亚西斯（Sanyasis）或湿婆的崇拜者，他们的尸体涂满了灰烬，几乎没有用窄棉布和绳子覆盖。他们的腰部周围，人造头发的头像绳子一样凝结，围困了他的大门。他用剩下的第四份，准备好食物，款待穷人，而他自己和家人则吃剩下的。每天晚上，他都会手持剑和圆盾，担任皇家床边的守卫，并手持剑整夜在床边走来走去。如果国王偶然醒来并询问谁在场，比尔巴尔立即回答说：“比尔巴尔在这里；无论你下什么命令，他都会服从。”鲁普森经常给他不寻常的命令，因为据说，“要考验你的仆人，请命令他做适当和不适当的事情：如果他自愿服从你，就知道他是有用的；如果他愿意，就知道他是有用的；如果他愿意，就知道他是有用的；如果他愿意，就知道他是有用的；如果他愿意，就知道他是有用的；如果他愿意，就知道他是有用的。”如果他回复，请立即解雇他。因此，仆人会受到考验，即使作为妻子，丈夫也会因贫穷而受到考验，而弟兄和朋友也会因请求他们的帮助而受到考验。”

就这样，出于对金钱的渴望，比尔巴尔彻夜守卫着。二十四小时里，无论是吃、喝、睡、坐、走、走，都时刻思念着他的师父。这确实是习俗。如果一个人出卖另一个人，后者就被出卖了，但是一个仆人通过提供服务而出卖了自己，当一个人变得依赖时，他怎么能快乐呢？可以肯定的是，无论一个人多么聪明、聪明或博学，然而，当他在他的主人面前时，他会像哑巴一样保持沉默，并感到恐惧。只有远离主子，他才能安心。因此，有学问的人说，正确地服务比任何宗教研究都难。

有一次，据说夜间附近的墓地里突然听到一名妇女的哭声。 ” 国王一听，喊道：“谁在等候？

“我在这里，”比尔巴尔回答道。 “有什么命令？”

国王说道：“你去到女人哭声的地方去，查明她悲伤的原因，然后就快点回来。”

拉杰普特接到命令后就去执行。国王穿着黑衣，在他看不见的情况下跟在后面，想看看他的勇气。

不久，比尔巴尔到达了墓地。他在那儿看到了什么？一个淡黄色的美丽女子，从头到脚都珠宝首饰，右手拿着牛角，左手拿着项链。她时而跳舞，时而跳跃，时而奔跑。她的眼里没有一滴泪水，只是敲着头，发出凄惨的哭声，不断地摔倒在地上。

看到她的状况，却没有认出这位由海沫中诞生、深受天上万象喜爱的女神，[85]拉克希米，繁荣女神。 Raj-Lakshmi 的意思是国王的财富，我们应该称之为守护天才。正如沃德先生所说，拉克希查拉是我们的“不幸者”，它在如此不同的语言中形成了声音和意义的非凡巧合。但派生是非常明显的。 比尔巴尔问道：“你为什么这样殴打自己并大喊大叫？你是谁？你有什么悲伤呢？

“我是皇家幸运者，”她回答道。

“你为什么哭？”比尔巴尔问道。

然后女神开始将她的地位与拉杰普特联系起来。她流着泪说道：“在王宫里做了首陀罗（或低种姓行为），因此不幸必定降临到它身上，我将放弃它。过了一个月，国王就因过度的痛苦而死了。为此，我悲痛欲绝，流泪。我给王家带来了很多幸福，因此我感到非常遗憾，我的预言无论如何都不会被证明是错误的。”

比尔巴尔问道：“有什么办法可以解决这个麻烦，让国王得以保全并活到一百岁吗？”

“是的，”女神说，“有。向东大约八英里，你会发现一座供奉我可怕的妹妹德维的寺庙。把你亲手砍下的你儿子的头献给她，你的国王的统治将永远持续下去。”所以说拉吉-拉克希米消失了。

比尔巴尔一言不发，只是快步朝自己的家走去。国王仍然穿着黑衣，以免被人看见，紧紧地跟在他身后，观察并聆听他的一举一动。

拉其普特人径直走到他的妻子身边，叫醒了她，并向她讲述了所发生的一切。智者云：“只有她才配得上妻子的名号，总是用深情和温顺的言语迎接丈夫。”她一听这情况，立刻叫醒了儿子，女儿也醒了。然后比尔巴尔告诉他们所有人，他们必须跟随他前往树林中的黛维神庙。

路上，拉其普特人对他的妻子说：“如果你愿意放弃你的儿子，我会为了我们的主人而把他献祭给毁灭者黛维。”

她回答说：“父母、儿子、女儿、兄弟、亲人，我现在都没有了。你是我的全部。圣经中记载，妻子的贞洁不是通过向祭司献礼或举行宗教仪式来实现的。她的美德在于等待她的丈夫，服从他并爱他——是的！尽管他是瘸子、手残、哑巴、聋子、瞎子、独眼、麻风病或驼背的。正所谓‘子在君，身无病，欲学问，知友，妻贤，凡持有这五者者，将发现它们是赐乐、驱除烦恼的。不情愿的仆人，吝啬的国王，不真诚的朋友，不受控制的妻子；这些东西会扰乱安逸，带来麻烦。”

然后，善良的妻子转向她的儿子说：“孩子，愿你献上你的头颅，国王就可以保住性命，王国也不会动摇。”

“娘，”优秀青年答道，“我觉得这件事还是应该抓紧了。首先，我必须服从你的命令；其次，我必须促进我主人的利益；第三，如果这具身体对女神有任何用处，那么在这个世界上没有比这更好的事情了。”

（“对不起，拉贾·维克拉姆，”拜塔尔打断了自己的话，“如果我完整地重复这些公平的话语；听到一个喉咙即将被割断的年轻人像一个医生一样说话是很有趣的。”法律。”）

然后，年轻人对他的父亲说道：“父亲，谁能为他的主人有用，谁就在这个世界上过着美好的生活，并且由于他的有用，他将在其他世界得到回报。”

其妹却惊呼：“母亲毒害女儿，父亲卖子，国王夺取臣民的全部财产，哪里能得到保护呢？”但他们并没有理睬她，继续一边说着，一边朝黛维神庙走去——而国王却一直秘密地跟着他们。

不久，他们到达了寺庙，这是一个单人房间，周围是宽敞的铺砌区域。前面是一座可容纳数百人的巨大建筑。照片前有血泊，受害者刚刚被屠杀。圣所里有女神，一个长着十只手臂的黑色大人物。她右手握着一支长矛，刺穿了巨大的摩赫沙。她用左手握住一条蛇的尾巴和巨人的头发，蛇正在咬着巨人的胸膛。她的其他手臂都高举过头顶，里面装满了不同的战争工具；她的右腿上靠着一头狮子。

然后比尔巴尔双手合十，以印度教的温和态度向可怕的女神说道：“母亲啊，通过我儿子的牺牲，让国王的寿命延长一千年。噢，黛维，母亲！消灭，消灭他的敌人！杀！杀！将他们化为灰烬！把他们赶走！吞噬他们！吞噬他们！把它们切成两半！喝！喝他们的血！消灭他们连根拔枝！用你的霹雳、矛、弯刀、铁饼或绳索，消灭他们！斯彭！斯彭！”

拉其普特人让他的儿子跪在女神面前，对他进行了猛烈的打击，以致他的头滚到了地上。然后他把剑扔了下来，他的女儿悲痛欲绝，一把抓起剑，猛烈地砍在她的脖子上，以致她的头与身体分离，摔倒了。轮到这位母亲，由于无法承受失去孩子的痛苦，她拿起武器，成功地斩首了自己。看到这一切屠杀的比尔巴尔如此反思：“我的孩子们都死了，为什么现在我还要继续为奴呢？我从国王那里得到的金子该送给谁呢？”然后他在脖子上留下了很深的伤口，以至于他的头也与身体分离了。

鲁普森国王看到地上的四个头颅，心里说道：“为了我，比尔巴尔家族才被灭亡。为了维护王权，必须毁灭整个家庭，这纯粹是一种诅咒，以这种方式进行统治是不公正的。”然后他拿起剑，正要自杀，这时毁灭女神可能对流血感到满意，握住了他的手，同时吩咐他请求任何他愿意的恩惠。

于是，这位慷慨的君主恳求让他忠实的仆人以及他所有高尚的家人复活。眨眼间，女神黛维从地底帕塔拉取来一瓶装满永生之水的甘露，洒在死者身上，使他们都复活如初。之后，一行人悠闲地走回家，国王适时与他的朋友比尔巴尔分享了他的王位。

停顿了片刻，拜塔尔用一句俏皮话说道：“不惜自己的生命去救主人的仆人是有福的！能消灭一切对存在和世俗繁荣的贪婪渴望的上师，是快乐的，三倍快乐的。拉贾，我必须问你一个尖锐的问题——这五个人中，谁是最大的傻瓜？”

“恶魔！”伟大的维克拉姆大声说道，所有那些珍视忠诚、亲情、服从和高尚的感情的人，都对吸血鬼对这个问题的看法感到愤怒； “如果你指的是最伟大的傻瓜和最高尚的思想，我会毫不犹豫地回答，国王鲁普森。”

“为什么，请问？”拜塔尔问道。

“因为，愚蠢的恶魔，”国王说道，“比尔巴尔注定要为一位对待他如此慷慨的主人献出自己的生命；儿子不能违背父亲，而妇女们则自然而然地本能地自杀，因为这是给她们树立的榜样。但鲁普森国王为了他的家臣而放弃了王位，对自己的生命和生存的崇高诱惑毫不珍惜。因此我认为他是最有功劳的。”

“当然，强大的维克拉姆，”吸血鬼笑道，“即使你有哈努曼的腿和手臂，你也会厌倦爬上高树。[86]猴神. 他自己。”

说完，他就从布上消失了，尽管它已经放在地上了。

但可怜的拜塔尔没有理由庆幸自己成功逃脱。不久之后，他又像往常一样被裹在布上，他又讲述了另一个真实的故事来报复自己。

“听着，伟大的国王！”拜塔尔河又开始了。

不重要的巴尼亚[87]一般写作“榕树”。 （商人）Hiranyadatt 有一个女儿，名叫 Madansena Sundari，美丽的丘比特军队。她的脸庞如月亮；她的头发如云；她的眼睛像麝鼠的眼睛；她的眉毛像一把弯曲的弓；她的鼻子像鹦鹉嘴；她的脖子像鸽子的脖子；她的牙齿像石榴粒；她的嘴唇红得像葫芦一样；她的腰像鹬一样柔软弯曲；她的手和脚像最柔软的花朵；她的手和脚像最柔软的花朵。她的肤色如茉莉花，事实上，她的青春光彩一天天增加。

当她成年后，她的父母开始经常在心里决定她的婚姻问题。马丹普尔（Madanpur）国王比尔巴尔（Birbar）统治的整个乡村的人民都在国外传言，希兰雅达特（Hiranyadatt）的房子里诞生了一个女儿，她的美丽让众神、人类和圣人都着迷。

于是，许多人画了他们的肖像，并通过使者将它们送到巴尼亚的黑兰亚达特，后者将它们全部展示给他的女儿。但她却像美女一样任性，当她的父亲说：“你自己选一个丈夫吧。”她告诉他没有一个让她满意，而且还央求他给她找一个长得好看、性格好的丈夫。的品质和良好的判断力。

终于，过了几天，四个追求者来自四个不同的国家。父亲告诉他们，他必须从每个人身上看出一些迹象，表明他具备所需的品质；他对他们的外表很满意，但他们必须让他对他们的知识感到满意。

“我，”第一个说，“非常熟悉 Shastras（或圣经）；在科学上没有人可以与我匹敌。至于我那帅气的样子，你自然也能看出来。”

第二人惊叹道：“我在射箭方面的造诣是绝无仅有的。我深谙射箭之术，能杀死任何看不见但听得见的东西，我优美的身材对你来说是显而易见的。”

第三个人继续说道：“我通晓陆生、水生、飞禽、走兽的语言，力气无人能敌。我的美貌你可以自己判断。”

“我知道，”第四个说道，“如何制作一种可以卖五颗红宝石的布料：卖掉它后，我将一颗红宝石的收益送给婆罗门，第二颗红宝石的收益我供奉给神，第三个我戴在自己身上，第四个我留给我的妻子；卖掉第五块后，我用它来举办宴会。这是我的知识，没有其他人知道。我的美貌是显而易见的。”

父亲听了这番话，开始反思：“俗话说，凡事过犹不及。西塔[88]Raja Janaka 的女儿，嫁给了 Ramachandra。后者将妻子托付给弟弟拉克什玛那看管，并进入森林礼拜，这时恶魔罗波那乔装成乞丐，抢走了战利品。 很可爱，但恶魔罗波那把她带走了；马哈巴普尔的巴里王施舍很多，但最后却变得贫穷。[89]这位伟大的国王被毗湿奴神欺骗，脱离了天地的统治，但由于他的极度虔诚，他被任命为帕塔拉（或地狱）的统治者。 我的女儿太漂亮了，不能再当处女了；我该给她哪一个呢？

说着，黑兰亚达特走到他的女儿面前，解释了这四个求婚者的品质，并问道：“我该给你哪一个呢？”听到这些话，她感到羞愧；她低着头，不知道该回答什么。

巴尼亚思惟后，自言自语道：“通达经典者，是婆罗门；能射箭者，是刹帝利；能织布者，是首陀罗。但懂得鸟语的年轻人却是我们自己的种姓。因此，我愿意嫁给他。”于是他就为他的女儿订婚了。

与此同时，春天的一天，马达塞纳到花园里散步。就在她出来之前，商人达姆达特的儿子索姆达特到森林里去取乐，正穿过同一个花园回家。

他一见少女就着了迷，对朋友说：“兄弟，如果我能得到她，我的生活就会富裕，如果我得不到她，我在世上的日子就白活了。”

说完，他因害怕分离而坐立不安，不由自主地靠近了她，握住她的手，说道：“如果你不爱我，我愿意为你而丢掉性命。”

“很高兴不要这样做，”她回答道。 “这将是有罪的，它将使我陷入流血的罪孽和惩罚之中；因此，我在这个世界和那个世界都将是痛苦的。”

“你的甜言蜜语，”他回答道，“刺痛了我的心，与你分离的强烈念头烧毁了我的身体，记忆和理解力都被这种痛苦摧毁了；由于过度的爱，我没有对错的感觉。但如果你答应我，我就会再活一次。”

她回答说：“确实，Kali Yug（铁器时代）已经开始，从那时起，世界上谎言增加，真理减少；人嘴上说得好听，心里却滋生诡诈。宗教被摧毁，犯罪增加，大地开始寸草不生。君王征收罚金，婆罗门贪婪，子不从父的命令，兄弟不信任兄弟；朋友之间的友谊已经疏远了；诚心已离师；仆人已放弃服务；男人已经抛弃了男子气概；女人已经抛弃了谦虚。五天后，我的婚姻即将举行；但如果你不自杀，我会先去看你，然后再和我丈夫在一起。”

许下诺言，并以恒河发誓后，她就回到了家。商人的儿子也走了。

不久，婚礼开始了，巴尼亚人希兰雅达特 (Hiranyadatt) 在宴席和送给新郎的礼物上花费了数十万卢比。两人的尸体上都抹了姜黄，新娘手里拿着装眼药的铁盒，年轻人则拿着一把槟榔剪。婚礼前一天晚上，在喧闹刺耳的音乐声中，年轻夫妇的头部和四肢被涂上油膏，新郎的头被剃光。婚礼游行非常盛大。街道上火光冲天，人们手里拿着火把，人们走过时，燃放着成吨的烟花。大象、骆驼和马都打扮得漂漂亮亮，被放置在方便的地方。在游行队伍到达新娘家之前，六个邪恶的男孩和坏年轻人被杀或受伤。[90]游行队伍是公平的游戏，经常在黑暗中遭到棍棒和石块袭击，引发严重纠纷。晚宴上，客人们在场就表明了这一义务，而且要求极其严格。 婚礼仪式重复一遍后，巴尼亚人设宴或晚宴，食物非常美味，大家安静地坐下，没有人抱怨，没有人羞辱新娘的家庭，也没有人用剪刀剪邻居的衣服。 。

仪式就这样愉快地结束了，丈夫带着Madansena回到了自己家。过了几天，小弟的妻子和大哥的妻子在夜间强行把她带到新郎那里，让她坐在铺满鲜花的床上。

当她的丈夫准备握住她的手时，她猛地把它甩开，并立即公开地告诉他她向索姆达特许诺的一切，条件是他不要自杀。

“万物，”新郎听了她的话，回答说，“都是通过言语来确定其意义的；言有其根据，从言而行。因此，造假言论的人会造假一切。如果你真的想去找他，那就去吧！

“得到丈夫的允许后，她起身，穿着盛装向年轻商人的家走去。路上有一个小偷看见了她，心情很好地走过来问：

“你在午夜时分，在如此黑暗的环境下，穿上这些漂亮的衣服和装饰品，要去哪里呢？”

她回答说她要去她心爱的人家。

“那么，这里谁是你的保护者呢？”小偷说道。

“卡玛德瓦，”她回答道，“这位美丽的青年，用他的火焰箭，用爱刺痛了三个世界居民的心，拉蒂帕蒂，拉蒂的丈夫，[91]拉蒂（Rati）是欲望之神卡玛（Kama）的妻子；我们用“春天的化身”来解释这个词。 伴随着科基拉鸟，[92]印度杜鹃（Cucuius Indicus）。它应该把蛋产在乌鸦的巢里。 嗡嗡的蜜蜂和柔和的微风。”然后她向小偷讲述了整个故事，并补充道——

“不要毁掉我的珠宝：在我走之前我向你保证，我回来时你会得到所有这些装饰品。”

小偷听了这话，心里想，既然她已经答应立即将珠宝送给他，现在毁掉她的珠宝是没有用的。于是他放开了她，坐下来自言自语道：

“对我来说，令人惊讶的是，既然我已经出生并能够享受这个世界上的美好事物，那么在我母亲子宫里养活我的那个人竟然不再照顾我了。我不知道他是睡着了还是死了。我宁愿吞下毒药，也不愿向人要钱或恩惠。因为以下六件事往往会降低一个人的地位：——与背信弃义的人交朋友；——无缘无故的笑声；与妇女发生口角；侍奉不称职的主人；骑着驴子，除了梵语之外，还能说任何语言。神在我们出生时就为我们的命运写下五件事：一是年龄；二是年龄。其次，行动；第三，财富；第四，科学；第五，名气。我现在做了一件好事，只要一个人的德行上升，所有成为他仆人的人都会服从他。但当善行减少时，连他的朋友也会对他产生敌意。”

与此同时，马达塞纳已经到达了年轻商人索姆达特睡着的地方。

她突然叫醒了他，他猛地跳了起来，连忙问她：“你是神仙之女吗？还是圣人的？还是蛇的？老实告诉我，你是谁？你从哪里来？

她回答说：“我是人类——Madansena，Baniya Hiranyadatt 的女儿。难道你不记得在那片小树林里拉着我的手，并宣称如果我不发誓先去看望你，然后再和我丈夫在一起，你就会自杀吗？”

“你有没有把这一切告诉你的丈夫？”他问道。

她回答说：“我已经告诉他一切了；他彻底了解了整个事件，就允许了我。”

“这件事，”松达特用忧郁的声音喊道，“就像珍珠没有合适的衣服，食物没有澄清的黄油，[93]这就是著名的 Ghi 或 Ghee，印度的一种酱汁，在这方面与英国一样糟糕。 或无旋律的歌唱；他们都一样不自然。衣不洁则损容，食不精则力弱，妻恶则夫忧死，子不名则家破，魔怒则害人，女子无论爱憎。 ，将成为痛苦的根源。因为几乎没有什么事情是女人不会做的。她从不把心里的话说出来，从不把嘴上说的话说出来，从不说出自己在做什么。确实，上帝在这个世界上创造了女人这种奇怪的生物。”他最后说：“你和别人的妻子一起回家吧，我不关心。”

马达塞纳起身离开。在路上，她遇到了小偷，小偷听了她的故事，对她大加赞赏，并放了她，让她没有被抢走。[94]欧洲读者会发现，正是她的纯洁让女主人公度过了所有这些危险。而且，她的美德本身就是一种回报，因为它让她失去了整个世界。

然后她去找她的丈夫，把整个事情告诉了他。但他不再爱她了，他说：“无论是国王、大臣、妻子，还是一个人的头发和指甲，都不会显得不合时宜。 kokila 的美妙之处在于它的音符，丑陋的男人的知识，奉献者的宽恕，女人的贞洁。”

吸血鬼叙述到这里，突然问国王：“这三个人中，谁的德行最大？”

维克拉姆深受这个故事的启发，忘记了自己，脱口而出：“小偷的。”

“请问为什么？”拜塔尔问道。

“因为，”英雄解释道，“当她的丈夫看到她爱着另一个男人，无论多么纯粹，他就不再对她产生感情了。索姆达特因为害怕受到国王的惩罚而放走了她。但小偷没有理由害怕法律而解雇她；因此他是最好的。”

“你好！你好！你好！”恶魔恶狠狠地笑道。 “那么，我的故事到此结束。”

随后，拜塔尔像以前一样从王公背后背着的布中逃脱，消失在夜色中，留下父子俩惊愕地面面相觑。

“儿子达玛·达瓦吉，”伟大的维克拉姆说道，“下次当那个恶棍吸血鬼问我问题时，我允许你在我有时间回答他的问题之前随意捏我的手臂。事实上，我们永远不会以这种方式结束我们的任务。”

“您的话归我所有，陛下。”年轻的王子回答道。但他对父亲的新计划并没有什么期望，因为当他到达父亲树下时，他听到了拜塔人拼命大笑的声音。

“陛下，他肯定是在嘲笑我们的胡子。”没有胡子的王子说道，他讨厌像年轻人一样被人嘲笑。

“让他们嘲笑胜利吧，”拉贾·维克拉姆激烈地喊道，他讨厌像老人一样被嘲笑。

*******

吸血鬼不失时机地开始了一个新的故事。

陛下（恶魔以异乎寻常的礼貌说道），在婆罗多土地的西海岸，有一个国家叫马来亚，你看我特别指出了这个地方，那里有一个城市，名叫昌德罗达亚（Chandrodaya），他的国王名叫兰德希尔。

这位拉贾，像他的半神化教团中的大多数其他人一样，年轻时曾是所谓的萨尔瓦拉西（Sarva-rasi）[95]从字面上看，“所有品味之一”——我们应该说是一个狂野的或同性恋的男人。;也就是说，他吃、喝、听音乐、看舞者、做爱，比他学习、沉思、祈祷或与智者交谈要多得多。三十岁之后，他开始改革，他对美好事业充满热情，以至于在极短的时间内，他就被认为是正确的拉贾斯的典范。这是非常值得称赞的。据观察，地球上许多梵天的副摄政者都热爱食物和饮料、音乐和舞蹈，以及对卡玛的崇拜，直到他们的生命结束。

他手下的军官中有一名治安官贡尚卡尔，奇怪的是，他既诚实又公正。他在饭前和饭后都同样谨慎地管理公平。即使在养家糊口的问题上，他也不收受贿赂。他对穷人相当仁慈，也从不明目张胆地惩罚富人，以显示他和他的法律对人的不尊重。除此之外，当他坐在正义的地毯上时，他并没有像一些科特瓦尔人那样，对那些无法回答的人使用粗暴或愤怒的语言；当无意中他也不会生气。

位于巴拉特兰西海岸的马来亚省钱德罗达亚市的所有人民都热爱和尊敬这位优秀的法官。然而，这并没有阻止盗窃行为如此频繁和频繁地发生，以至于没有人感到自己的财产安全。最后，遭受这些掠夺最严重的商人聚集到贡尚卡面前，对他说：

“法律之花啊！强盗对我们实行了极大的暴虐，实在是太严重了，我们不能再留在这座城市了。”

县令回答说：“已经发生了，已经发生了。但将来你将不再有烦恼。我会为这些盗贼做好应有的准备。”

冈尚卡如此说道，召集了他的各个代表，并指示他们增加人数。他向他们指出夜间应该如何守夜；除此之外，他还命令他们开放所有进出的登记册，通过间谍手段了解城里每个可疑人员的动向，并组建一支追踪者队伍，追踪嫌疑人的足迹。即使小偷穿着盗窃鞋，[96]这些鞋子通常由碎布和皮革碎片制成。他们常常把脚趾放在脚后面，还有其他类似的设计，但他们几乎不会欺骗有经验的人。 直到他们找到并逮捕了他们。最后，他赋予巡逻队全权，只要他们可能抓到强盗，就可以不问任何问题就杀死他。

每天晚上都有大量的人开始在整个城市戒备，但尽管如此，抢劫仍然不断发生。过了一会儿，所有的商人又聚集在一起，来到县令面前说：“正义的化身啊！你们更换了官吏，雇了看守的人，设立了巡逻队，然而盗贼却没有减少，掠夺的事不断发生。”

于是贡尚卡把他们带到了宫殿，让他们把请愿书放在兰迪尔国王的脚下。国王安慰了他们之后，送他们回家，说道：“你们放心吧。今晚我将采取一项新计划，在薄伽梵的祝福下，该计划将使你们摆脱进一步的焦虑。”

请注意，维克拉姆啊，兰德希尔是诗人所歌颂的对象之一——

不明智的人从一端跑到另一端。

他不满足于在品格上变得非常受人尊敬、正确、甚至无懈可击，他甚至改革了他的改革，而且他做了比要求他做的更多的事情。

当老人星开始在南方的天空中欢快地闪烁时，国王起身准备晚上的工作。他用某种颜料来掩饰自己的脸，把小胡子卷到眼睛上，把胡须分开到下巴上，把胡须的两端引到耳朵上，把一根马尾毛紧紧地绑在他的脸上。鼻子，从而完全改变其形状。然后他裹上一件粗布外衣，束腰，扣上剑，把盾牌搭在手臂上，没有对宫里的人说一句话，独自步行到街上。

天黑了，拉贾·兰德尔在寂静的城市里走了近一个小时，没有遇到任何人。然而，当他穿过商业区的一条后街时，他看到一只似乎无家可归的狗躺在房屋墙脚下。他走近它，一个人影跳了起来，同时一个大声喊道：“你是谁？”

兰德尔回答说：“我是一个小偷；你是谁？

“我也是个小偷。”另一个人听了很高兴，回答道。 “那么，来吧，让我们一起做吧。但你到底是什么，一个高傲的人还是一个懒惰的人[97]高顶的是贼，低顶的是狗。？“

“在洛斯特的海湾之间举行更多的仪式，[98]参与商店行窃。”国王以闪电侠的身份低声说道，“并没有什么不合适的地方。但是，看起来很敏锐，注意老奥利弗，[99]月亮。 或羊皮人[100]法官。 将会受到我们的拉动，并且正如鸡蛋就是鸡蛋一样，一旦落后，我们就会被刮掉。[101]落后就是被抢；刮擦是挂着的。=

“好吧，保留你的红抹布[102]舌头。 安静点，”另一个人抱怨道，“让我们开始工作吧。”

然后，国王和小偷这两个人就认真地开始工作了。这帮人似乎聚集在街上。他们喝烈酒，杀戮受害者，用油擦拭他们的身体，用灯黑涂抹他们的眼睛，并重复咒语以使他们能够在黑暗中看到东西；其他人则拿着金枪练习神的功课，[103]这是卡蒂基亚神，火星和水星的混合体，他向尤加查里亚（Yugacharya）透露了被称为“Chauriya-Vidya”的经典——Anglice，“盗贼手册”。印度教戏剧中的经典强盗总是按照其戒律表演。还有另一部作品受到盗贼的推崇，被称为“Chora-Panchashila”，因为它由五十行组成。 并进行四种破屋方式：一、挑烧砖。 1. 切开未烘烤的、因最近受潮、暴露在阳光下或因盐水渗出而软化的未烘烤的。 2、往泥墙上泼水； 3. 在一块木头上钻孔。韦驮之子们，造出莲花、太阳、新月、湖泊、水缸形状的裂口，它们似乎被涂上了神奇的药膏，所以没有眼睛可以看到，没有武器可以伤害他们。

最后，小偷在袋子里装满了昂贵的战利品，他对国王说：“现在，我的拉米海湾，我们要去闪光肯，小伙子们和死人正等着在那里吹哨子。”

作为国王，兰德希尔对“盗贼的拉丁语”非常熟悉，他振作起来，决心找出这个巢穴的秘密。在路上，他的同伴对新海湾对老鼠洞的重视感到非常满意，[104]应该是一个好兆头。 并确信他是一个真正的强盗，教他哨子、单词和该团伙特有的标志，并答应他要打亮着的灯。[105]分享战利品。 “上交”前的那天晚上。

说着，小偷敲了两下城门，城门立即向他打开，他的同伙在前面引路，来到距城墙约两科斯（四英里）远的一块岩石前。在进入高地脚下的黑暗森林之前，强盗站了一会儿，用手指吹了两声口哨，尖锐的尖叫声响彻寂静的空地。几分钟后，猫头鹰的叫声回应了信号，强盗像豺狼一样尖叫着回应了这一信号。随后，六名全副武装的男子从草地上的蹲伏处站了起来，其中一人走向新来者接受标志。它被给予了，他们俩都走了，而守卫则仿佛沉入了地底。所有这些事情兰德尔都仔细地记录下来：除此之外，他没有注意到路上所有可辨认的物体，当他进入树林时，他用匕首刮擦了所有触手可及的树干。

经过一段急速的步行，两人到达了一块高高的垂直岩石，这块岩石从丛林中的一块空地中突然升起，上面印满了朱红色的手印。贼走近拜了，伏在地，拔了一捆草。两人合力升起一扇厚重的活门，一道流光从中倾泻而出，下方却是一片混乱的喧闹声。

“这就是肯，”强盗说着，准备从一根细细的竹梯上下来，“跟我来！”然后他带着一袋贵重物品消失了。

国王按照吩咐做了，两人一起进入一个大厅，或者更确切地说是一个洞穴，那里呈现出奇特的景象。它被固定在阴暗墙壁上的链接照亮，给整个地方投下了烟雾般的眩光，深沉的黑暗后的对比让兰德尔想起了他母亲对帕塔普里（Patal-puri）这座地狱之城的描述。地上铺着各种各样的地毯，从最精致的挂毯到最粗糙的地毯，上面撒满了袋子、钱包、武器、成堆的战利品、酒杯和所有放荡的物品。

穿过这个山洞，小偷把兰德希尔带到了另一个山洞，里面挤满了小偷，准备晚上的欢乐。有些人正在换衣服，衣衫褴褛，脏兮兮地从房子的缝隙里爬出来；其他人正在清洗手脚上的血迹；还有一些人正在洗衣服。他们梳理着蓬乱、沾满灰尘的长发；他们用芳香的可可油涂抹皮肤。现场有形形色色的凶手，包括卡尔提凯亚和巴瓦尼的邪恶集合[106]巴瓦尼（Bhawani）是毁灭女神的多种形式之一，也是湿婆的妻子。 全体人员。其中有刺伤者，他们的短剑挂在挂绳上，绑在他们赤裸的腰上，还有达图里亚投毒者[107]用斯特拉莫姆的麻醉种子杀人的恶棍。 其特征是左臂下挂着一个小包，而 Phansigars[108]更好地称为“暴徒”，在印度意味着“流氓”。 脖子上挂着致命的头巾。兰德尔有理由感谢上一世的善行，让他在如此严密的伪装下来到这里，因为正如所料，他在强盗中发现了一些他自己的人，间谍和看守者，守卫和巡逻队。

小偷的举止的重要性现在表明他是这伙人的头目，当他进入更衣室时，受到了热烈的掌声，他命令所有人向新同伴行礼。一些关于当晚工作是否成功的问题很快就被提出并得到了回答：然后，公司准备好狂欢，涌入第一个洞穴。他们各自坐在自己的位置上，开始吃喝玩乐。

几个小时后，燃烧的火把开始熄灭，睡意压倒了最坚强的头脑。大多数强盗把自己卷进地毯里，蒙住头，睡着了。有几个人仍然背靠墙坐着，昏昏欲睡地点着头，或者斜靠在一边，鸦片麻麻的昏昏沉沉的，什么力气也没有。

就在这时，国王第一次见到的一个女仆走进了山洞，看着他惊呼道：“国王啊！你怎么和这些恶人在一起了？你赶紧逃吧，不然等他们醒来，肯定会杀了你。”

“我不认识路；我该往哪个方向走？”兰德尔问道。

女人然后给他指路。他迈着虎猫般的脚步，穿过这群混乱的打呼噜的人，找到了梯子，用尽全身的力气，掀开了活板门，再次呼吸了天上的露天空气。在深入树林深处之前，他再次标记了入口所在的位置，并小心地放回了那堆草。

拉贾·兰迪尔刚回到王宫，清除了他当晚的工作痕迹，就接待了第二批商人代表团，他们用最长的脸痛苦地抱怨着他们新遭遇的不幸。

“正义之珠啊！”那些有钱人说，“但是昨天你们安慰我们，承诺会采取一些措施，使我们的房屋和金库不会被盗。而我们的货物从来没有像过去十二个小时那样遭受如此严重的损失。”

兰德希尔再次解雇了他们，并发誓这一次他要么死，要么消灭那些犯下这种暴力罪行的可怜虫。

然后，在做好了心理准备后，国王警告一队弓箭手做好执行特勤任务的准备，当他自己的每个人从强盗洞穴返回时，他都秘密逮捕并处死了他——因为死者据说，不要像拜塔尔斯那样讲故事。夜幕降临，当他想到盗贼们已经完成了掠夺工作，又会像往常一样聚集在一起进行放荡的活动时，他就武装起来，率领部下，带领他们来到丛林中的岩石处。

但强盗们因新同伴的失踪而兴奋起来，进行了询问并获得了迫在眉睫的危险的情报。他们不敢在白天逃跑，以免被追踪，被发现并被详细消灭。当夜幕降临时，他们犹豫着是否要散去，因为他们确信早上就会被俘虏。然后，自始至终持一种意见的船长建议他们抵抗，并向他们保证，如果他们愿意听他的话，他们就会成功。伙计们都很尊重他，因为他以勇敢着称：他们都听从了他的建议，并答应服从。

当夜色开始在丛林地面上投射出透明的阴影时，盗贼首领召集了他的手下，检查了他们的弓箭，给了他们鼓励的话，然后带领他们走出了洞穴。在埋伏他们之后，他爬上岩石监视敌人的动向，而其他人则将鼻子和耳朵贴在平地上。不久，月光洒满了兰德希尔和他的弓箭手队伍，他们正在快速而粗心地前进，因为他们希望在山洞里抓住强盗。队长允许他们几乎穿过伏击线。然后他发出了信号，就在这时，盗贼们突然从灌木丛中起来，袭击了皇家军队，把他们赶了回来。

国王也逃跑了，这时强盗首领大喊：“哈喽！你是拉杰普特人，正在逃避战斗吗？”兰德尔闻言停了下来，两人对峙，拔出刀刃，开始了激烈的战斗。

国王有狡猾的篱笆，小偷也有狡猾的手段。他们开始了决斗，就像熟练的剑客应该做的那样，几乎弯腰，跳了一圈，每个人都紧紧地盯着对方，皱着眉头，轻蔑地嘴唇；同时执行跳水动作和有节奏的跳跃，像青蛙一样向前跳跃，像猴子一样向后跳跃，并用军刀敲击盾牌，盾牌发出像鼓一样的嘎嘎声。

然后兰德尔突然面向他的对手，大叫一声砍向他的腿，但盗贼跳到了空中，刀刃在他身下呼啸而过，无害。下一刻，强盗首领的剑在他的头上旋转了三次，闪电般地斜向国王的左肩落下：国王却接住了目标，毫发无伤，尽管他因这一击的猛烈而踉踉跄跄。 。

就这样，他们继续互相攻击，招架和反击，直到他们喘不过气来，手和手腕因疲劳而麻木和抽筋。他们在勇气、力量和技巧上都非常相配，谁也没有占到半点优势，直到强盗的右脚碰到一块石头从他身下滑落，他就这样在敌人的摆布下倒在了地上。盗贼们逃跑了，而国王则将他的双手绑在身后，用他的好剑将他带回了城市。

第二天早上，兰德尔拜访了他的囚犯，为他洗澡、清洗，并给他穿上了漂亮的衣服。然后他让他骑上骆驼，送他绕城一周，伴随着一个大声喊道：“谁听见了！谁听见了！谁听见了！国王命令！这就是抢劫旃陀罗达亚城的盗贼。因此，今天晚上，让所有人聚集在通向大海的门外的空地上。让他们看到恶行的惩罚，并学会明智。”

兰迪尔曾谴责小偷被钉在十字架上，[109]直到晚年，钉十字架在缅甸帝国的佛教徒中仍然很常见。据目击者 F. Carey 先生称，惩罚有两种方式。有时，罪犯的手脚被钉在绞刑架上；其他人只是被绑起来，吃东西。在这些病例中，三四天后，患者的腿和脚开始肿胀和僵硬。据说，人们在这种状态下生活了两周，最后因疲劳和屈辱而死去。抽筋的痛苦也必定非常严重。在印度，刺刑通常比钉在十字架上更常见。 手脚伸直，呈直立姿势，被钉死，直至死亡；他想吃的一切都是为了延长生命和痛苦而向他订购的。当死亡临近时，熔化的黄金将被倒入他的喉咙，直到它从他的脖子和身体的其他部位爆裂出来。

晚上，小偷被带出去处决，游行队伍碰巧经过一位富有的地主的房子附近。他有一个最宠爱的女儿，名叫肖巴尼（Shobhani），正值青春年华，非常可爱。她每一天都在进步，每一刻都增添了她的优雅和美丽。女孩被小心翼翼地放在远离人类视线的地方，从不被允许走出花园的高墙，因为她的保姆，一位深受邻里信任的聪明女人，在她死亡时向她的父母发出了郑重的警告。预言是，这位少女应该成为这座城市的仰慕者，并且应该以萨蒂寡妇的身份死去[110]我们的苏蒂有一句令人钦佩的印度教谚语说：“没有人知道女人的方式；没有人知道女人的方式。”她杀死了她的丈夫并成为了萨蒂。” 在成为妻子之前。从那时起，肖巴尼就被她的父亲当作珍珠放在棺材里，他发誓永远不会比她活得更久，甚至还确定了他自杀的地点和方式。

但命运之轴[111]命运和命运更像是穆斯林的幻想，而不是印度教的幻想。 击落云上兀鹫，随虫入地底，刺鱼于海底，凡人怎能逃脱？当强盗首领骑着骆驼，经过老户主窗下的十字架时，女人们的公寓里突然起火，把囚犯们赶进房间，看着街道。

坚实的人头路面上传来许多人的嗡嗡声：“这是盗贼，正在抢劫整个城市；现在就让他颤抖吧，兰德尔一定会把他钉死在十字架上！”

在美丽和勇敢的举止上，就像在力量和勇气上一样，在旃陀罗达亚没有一个人能超越强盗，强盗穿着华丽，尽管他的行列不光彩，但看起来就像一个国王的儿子。他面无表情地坐着，骄傲地几乎听不到暴徒们的嘲笑声。当整个城市因为他而陷入疯狂的焦虑时，他却表现得平静而沉稳。但当他听到“颤抖”这个词时，他的嘴唇颤抖起来，他的眼睛里闪烁着火光，眉宇间出现了深深的皱纹。

肖巴尼从窗户里发出一声尖叫，她躲在窗户后面，带着强烈的女性好奇心凝视着大道。强盗的脸与她苍白的脸颊齐平，距离不到六英尺。她注意到了他英俊的容貌，他愤怒的眼神让她浑身颤抖，仿佛闪电一般。然后她挣脱了他青春美貌的迷恋，气喘吁吁地跑到父亲身边，说道：

“现在就去把那个小偷放了！”

老管家回答说：“这个贼一直在全城行窃和掠夺，用他的手段打败了国王的弓箭手；那么，为什么应我的请求，我们最仁慈的拉贾·兰德希尔要释放他呢？”

肖巴尼几乎要疯了，他惊呼道：“如果你可以通过放弃你的全部财产来说服国王释放他，那么就立即这样做；如果他不来找我，我就必须放弃我的生命！”

少女用面纱蒙住头，绝望地坐下来，而她的父亲听了她的话，悲痛欲绝，连忙来到国王面前。他大声喊道：

“伟大的国王啊，请您接受四十万卢比，并释放这个小偷。”

国王回答说：“他抢劫了整座城市，我的守卫也因为他而被消灭。我无论如何也不能释放他。”

然后老户主发现，正如他所预料的那样，国王
冷酷无情，不被感动，无论是眼泪、贿赂，还是被
女孩的命运残酷，他怀着一团火回到家，
对她说：

“女儿，我已经说过并做了所有可能的事情，但它有用
我与国王毫无关系。现在，那么，我们就死吧。”

与此同时，卫兵带着强盗绕城一周，把他带到城门外，让他站在十字架旁边。随后死亡使者从王宫赶来，刽子手开始钉他的四肢。他以勇敢者的坚韧承受着痛苦；但当他听到老户主的女儿所做的事情时，他放声大哭，心痛得快要爆炸了，同时又像在宴会上一样开怀大笑。所有人都被他的欢乐吓了一跳。当铁器刺入他的肉身时，却出现了这样的情况，没有人能看出其中的任何原因。

当他去世时，在精神上与他结婚的肖巴尼（Shobhani）对自己背诵了这些话：

“人体有三千五百万根毛发。与丈夫一起上升的女人将在天堂停留很多年。正如捕蛇者将蛇从洞里拉出来一样，她将自己的丈夫从地狱中救了出来，并与他一起欢欣鼓舞。是的，尽管他可能已经陷入痛苦的境地，被可怕的束缚所束缚，已经达到了痛苦的地步，耗尽了力量，并为他的罪行而遭受折磨和折磨。在她们的领主死后的任何时候，贤淑的妇女除了投身于同样的火焰之外，没有其他有效的义务。只要一个女人在连续的轮回中，拒绝像忠实的妻子一样，与她已故的主人在同一个火中焚烧自己，那么她就不能免于以某种雌性动物的身体复活。”

因此，美丽的处女兼妻子肖巴尼决定自焚，以确保小偷的来世。她勇敢地把手指伸进火炬的火焰中，直到它化为灰烬，然后在最近的溪流中庄严地沐浴。

人们在地上挖了一个洞，在绿色的树干床上堆满了大麻、沥青、木柴和澄清的黄油，形成了葬礼的柴堆。尸体被涂油、沐浴，并穿上新衣服，然后放在大约两英尺高的堆上。舒巴尼祈祷，只要十四个因陀罗统治，或者只要她头发还有多少年，她就可以和她的丈夫住在天堂，并受到天上舞者的侍候。然后，她向朋友们赠送了自己的装饰品和玉米小礼物，在两只手腕上绑了一些棉花，在头发上插了两把新梳子，在额头上涂了漆，并在裹身布的末端绑上了干净的干稻米。[112]按理来说，农夫耕地的公牛不少于四头；但很少有人能负担得起。如果他用牛或公牛耕地，而不是用公牛耕地，那么他的地里产出的稻米就是不洁净的，并且不能用于任何宗教仪式。 和贝壳。当她绕着尸体躺着的火葬柴堆走了七圈时，她把这些送给了旁观者。然后她爬上木堆，坐在上面，把小偷的头放在腿上，没有绳子、杠杆、上层或木柴，她命令点燃木堆。周围的人群在多处放火，敲鼓，吹响海螺，大声喊叫“哈里博尔！哈里博尔！[113]胜利的呼喊，就像我们的“Huzza”或“Hurrah！”后来降级为“万岁”。 “Hari bol”当然是宗教性的，意思是“召唤哈里！”即克里希纳，即毗湿奴。” 稻草被铺上，沥青和澄清黄油被随意倒出。但肖巴尼的死是一个萨哈马拉人，死得很幸福：柴堆被点燃后，她身体的任何部分都没有移动——事实上，她似乎在火焰接触到她之前就死了。

由于女儿的死，老户主自刎了。[114]这种自杀形式是印度公认的自杀形式之一。因此，在欧洲，我们读到过一些狂热分子，他们怀着自杀的聪明才智，成功地将自己钉死在十字架上。 他制造了一个半月形状的乐器，边缘像剃刀一样，适合他的颈后。它的两端，就像天平的横梁一样，都拴着链条。他闭着眼睛坐下来；他用圣河 Vaituurani 的净化粘土进行擦拭[115]奥里萨邦的贾加纳特河；它与其他大约二十九个国家共享神圣的荣誉，在较低的地区它代表着古典的冥河。;他重复了正确的咒语。然后他把脚踩在铁链的末端，突然抬起脖子，被砍下的头颅从身体上滚到了地上。这是多么幸福的死啊！

拜塔尔沉默不语，仿佛在沉思老户主由此获得的幸运转世。

“但是，陛下，小偷可能在笑什么呢？”他父亲的年轻王子 Dharma Dhwaj 问道。

“我的孩子，这个女孩的愚蠢之举，”武士国王漫不经心地回答道。

“我再次感谢陛下，”拜塔尔突然说道，“您把我从这个不愉快的处境中释放出来，但是王公的穿透力又出了问题。为了不让你的皇子和继承人产生错误的印象，在走之前我会解释一下为什么勇敢的盗贼会流泪，为什么他会在这个时候笑。”

当他想到自己无法回报她的善意，愿意放弃她在世界上拥有的一切来拯救他的生命时，他哭了。这个想法让他深感悲痛。

当他生命中最后的沙子快耗尽时，她却开始爱他，这让他感到很奇怪。旋转的天堂的神奇之处在于，它把财富赐予无法利用它的小气鬼，赐予智慧给滥用它的坏人，赐予美丽的妻子给无法保护她的傻瓜，赐予石山丰沛的雨水。想到这些，英姿飒爽的盗贼哈哈大笑起来。

“在回到我的祖先树之前，”吸血鬼继续说道，“正如我将要根据陛下愚蠢的答复所做的那样，我可能会说，对于这个世界上的一切，人们可能会笑和哭，或者可能会哭和笑。从邻居的死亡（一般来说，这与他们无关）到他们自己的最终目的，这确实与他们极为相关。就我而言，我习惯于嘲笑一切，因为它可以激发大脑，刺激肺部，美化容貌，而且——现在，再见，拉贾·维克拉姆！”

武士王这次得到了预先警告，将装着拜塔尔的包裹从背上移到腋下，用力压着。

然而，这一举动并没有阻止吸血鬼溜回他的树上，并给拉贾留下一块空布。

不久，恶魔就如往常一样被捆起来了。维克拉姆身后响起一个声音，那个多嘴的东西又开始说话了。

在朱姆纳河美丽的河岸上，有一座城市，名为达玛斯塔尔（Dharmasthal）——职责所在；其中居住着一位名叫凯沙夫的婆罗门。他是一个非常虔诚的人，经常在西迪河上进行忏悔和崇拜。他自己制作泥像，而不是从别人那里购买。他把圣石顶部涂成红色，并向他们献上鲜花、水果、水、甜食和炒豌豆。他成为一个博学的人有些晚了，直到二十岁时，他才疏于读书，沉迷于崇拜年轻美丽的迦摩天神。[116]丘比特。他的妻子拉蒂是春天的化身。印度教诗人总是把爱和春天结合在一起，也许从生理上来说他们是正确的。 和他的妻子拉蒂，伴随着杜鹃、蜂蜂和甜美的微风。

有一天，他的父母严厉斥责了他不守规矩的行为，克沙夫漫步到邻近的一个小村庄，躲在一棵高大的无花果树下，这棵无花果树遮住了著名的潘查南雕像。[117]印度教三合会或三巨头中第三人的化身，湿婆神，毁灭之神，印度酒神巴克斯。该图像有五张脸，每张脸有三只眼睛。在孟加拉，许多村庄都发现了它，妇女们警告她们的孩子不要触摸它，否则会被杀死。 不久，一个邪恶的念头在他的脑海中升起：他玷污了神，并把他扔进了最近的坦克里。

第二天早上，当那个靠神像为生的人到达时，他发现他的神不见了。他心烦意乱地回到村里，很快村里就因这位失踪的神而掀起了轩然大波。

就在这混乱之中，克沙夫的父母赶来寻找他们的儿子。人群中的一个人声称他看到一个年轻人坐在潘查南的树上，但他不知道这位神现在怎么样了。

逃亡者终于出现了，村民们怀疑他是潘查南的窃贼。他承认了事实，指出了他扔石头的地方，并补充说他污染了神灵。所有在场的人都惊讶地举起了手和眼睛，每个在场的人都宣称潘查南一定会立即处以死刑来惩罚这种大胆的侮辱。凯沙夫非常害怕。从那时起，他就开始服从父母，并刻苦学习，很快就成为了这个国家最有学问的人。

现在，婆罗门凯沙夫有一个女儿，名字叫玛杜玛拉提（Madhumalati）或甜茉莉（Sweet Jasmine）。她非常美丽。诸神从何而来的材料，造就了如此精美的脸庞？他们把月亮最优秀的部分取了一部分，形成了那张美丽的脸？有人寻求证明这一点吗？让他看看月亮上剩下的空地。她的眼睛就像盛开的蓝色睡莲。她的怀抱是迷人的莲花茎；她飘逸的长发映衬着浓浓的夜色。

当这个可爱的人到了结婚的年龄，她的母亲、父亲和哥哥三人都为她担心起来。智者曰：“女无夫，家有祸。”而且，“国王、女人和攀缘植物都喜欢那些靠近他们的人。”还有，“谁没有遭受过性的痛苦？因为无论是通过礼物或仁慈，还是正确的行为，或最大的服务，或道德法则，或通过惩罚的恐惧，都无法使女人保持应有的服从，因为她无法区分善与恶。”

有一天，婆罗门凯沙夫去参加他的一位顾客的婚礼，[118]村里的婆罗门有时会向所有村民收取费用。 他的儿子到一位导师的家里去读书。他们不在的时候，一个年轻人来到了家里，茉莉花的母亲从他的美貌中推断出他的优点，对他说：“我会把我的女儿嫁给你。”父亲还把女儿许配给他在雇主家里遇见的一位婆罗门青年。哥哥同样把他的妹妹许配给了他读书的地方的一个同学。

几天后，父子俩在这两个求婚者的陪同下回家了，屋里已经坐着第三个人了。第一个名字叫特里比克拉姆，第二个名字叫巴曼，第三个名字叫马杜萨丹。三人在身心、知识、年龄上都是平等的。

然后父亲看着他们，自言自语地说：“嗬！有一名新娘和三名新郎；我该给谁，不该给谁？我们三个人已经向这三个人做出了承诺。奇怪的情况发生了；我们必须做什么？

然后，他向他们提出了一个智慧的考验，并让他们同意，谁能引用智者最优秀的名言，谁就成为他女儿的丈夫。

特里比克拉姆说：“战争考验勇气；战争考验勇气；战争考验勇气。”诚实地支付债务和利息；患难中的友谊；并在贫穷的日子妻子的忠诚。”

巴曼继续说：“那个女人没有德行，在她父亲的家里不服从，她四处游荡，参加宴会和娱乐，在男人面前脱下面纱，在陌生人家里做客，她非常注重睡眠，喝着令人陶醉的饮料，并且喜欢与丈夫保持距离。”

马杜萨丹继续说道：“不要让任何人相信大海，也不要相信任何有爪子、有角的东西，或者携带致命武器的东西；无论是在女人身上，还是在国王身上。”

当婆罗门正在犹豫该选择哪一个，而更倾向于后者时，一条蛇咬了这位美丽的女孩，几个小时后她就死了。

父亲和三个求婚者被这可怕的突然死亡惊呆了，一动不动地坐着。于是起身，竭尽全力，带来各种巫师、贤士、贤士，以咒语驱毒。人们看到这个女孩后都说：“她无法复活了。”其一曰：“五、六、八、九、十四，被蛇咬者必死。”第二个断言：“周六或周二被咬的人无法生存。”第三人道：“六宫中注入的毒，不能下。”第四个人说：“任何感觉器官被咬伤的人，无论是下唇、脸颊、脖子还是胃，都无法逃脱死亡。”第五个说：“既然如此，连造物主梵天都无法恢复生命，那我们又有何用呢？你主持葬礼吗？我们就出发了。

说完，巫师们就上路了。悲痛欲绝的父亲抱起了女儿的尸体，并在通常焚烧尸体的地方将其焚烧，然后返回家中。

随后，三个年轻人互相说道：“我们现在必须到别处去寻找幸福了。除了听从空气之神因陀罗的话，我们还能做什么更好呢？——

“‘不出行者无福，足不出户者恶人。因陀罗是旅行者的朋友。旅行！

“‘行者的双腿如开花的枝条，他自己种植并采摘果实。他所有的错误都消失了，被他在路边的努力所摧毁。旅行！

“‘坐者之福，坐也；当他升起时，它也升起；他睡的时候它也睡；当他移动时，它移动得很好。旅行！

“‘一个睡觉的人就像铁器时代。一个觉醒的人就像青铜时代。一个人崛起就像白银时代。一个人旅行就像黄金时代。旅行！

“‘旅行者发现了蜂蜜；旅行者发现了甜美的无花果。看看太阳的幸福，他的劳苦永不疲倦。旅行！”'

临别前，他们分了心爱之人的遗物，然后各自上路。

特里比克拉姆（Tribikram）将烧焦的骨头分开并绑起来，成为当时强大教派的吠舍什卡（Vaisheshikas）之一。他郑重戒除八大罪，即：夜食；宰杀任何动物；吃产奶树的果实、南瓜或嫩竹：品尝蜂蜜或肉；掠夺他人财富；强行掳掠已婚妇女；吃花、黄油或奶酪；以及崇拜其他宗教的神灵。他了解到，最高的善行是不伤害有情众生；该罪行并不能成为破坏生命的理由；国王作为刑事司法的管理者，是最大的罪人。他发下五戒：戒妄语、戒食肉、戒鱼、戒盗窃、戒饮酒、戒婚姻。除了一条白腰布、一条擦嘴的毛巾、一个乞丐盘和一把扫地用的毛刷，他只带了一条白腰布、一条擦嘴的毛巾和一把毛线刷，以免踩到昆虫。又命他畏世俗事；未来状态的苦难；一次从别人那里得到的食物多于一天的食物；所有事故；与破坏动物生命有关的规定；死亡和耻辱；亦能取悦一切众生，并获得一切众生的慈悲。

他试图驱逐他的爱。他自言自语道：“当然，我只是因为骄傲和自私，才认为女人有能力给我带来幸福；我想，‘啊！啊！你的眼珠转动如水鹡鸰的尾巴，你的嘴唇像熟透的果实，你的胸怀像莲花花蕾，你的形状灿烂如熔金在坩埚里，月亮因欲模仿你的影子而残缺。面容，你就像丘比特的游乐屋；所有时间的幸福都集中在你身上；你的一触必将赋予死去的形象以生命；当你走近时，一个活生生的崇拜者会因喜悦而变成一块没有生命的石头。有了你，我就能面对战争的一切恐怖；如果我被箭雨射穿，你的一瞥就能治愈我所有的伤口。

“我的思绪现在远离了这个世界。看到她我就说：‘这就是男人着迷的形式吗？这是一个裹着皮的篮子；它含有骨头、肉、血和杂质。被这个迷住的愚蠢生物——库里姆有一个食人者正在喂养一个比他更强大的食人者吗？这些人把由不纯物质构成的东西称为脸，并像醉汉吞下杯中的醉酒一样饮用它的魅力。那些盲目、痴情的众生！我为什么要对这个由血肉组成的身体感到高兴或不高兴呢？我的责任是寻求这个身体的主宰，并忽视一切引起快乐或痛苦的事情。”

第二个求婚者巴曼将他心爱之人的骨灰捆扎起来，并遵循——有点过早——伟大立法者马努的戒律。 “父亲见筋疲力竭，头发灰白，又见其子孙，则令其入林避难。让他拿起他的圣火和所有向它献祭的家用器具，然后离开城镇到偏僻的树林里，让他以完全控制他的感觉和行动器官的能力居住在其中。以诸圣贤所食之多种清净食，青草根果，以礼施行五大圣事。让他穿上黑色羚羊皮或树皮外衣；让他早晚沐浴；让他的头发、胡须和指甲不断生长。让他在地上来回滑动；或者让他踮起脚尖站一整天；或者让他继续运动，交替起立和坐着；但日出、中午、日落时，让他到水里去洗澡。在炎热的季节，让他坐在五堆火中，其中四堆在他周围熊熊燃烧，太阳在上方；下雨天，让他赤裸裸地站在云层倾盆大雨的地方，甚至连斗篷也没有。在寒冷的季节让他穿湿衣服，让他逐渐加强虔诚的苦行。然后，按照法律的指示，将他的圣火重新安置在他的心中，让他在没有外在的火、没有宅邸的情况下生活，完全安静，以树根和果实为食。”

与此同时，马杜萨丹三世拿走了钱包和颈带，成为了乔吉（Jogi），开始四处流浪，只靠糠秕为生，并实践他的奉献精神。 为了见到梵天，他履行了以下职责： 1. 听力; 2. 冥想; 3. 调整心态； 4. 吸收心灵。 他通过将神安定在他的精神中、通过降服他的感官、通过摧毁欲望来对抗三恶：掉举、伤害、淫欲。 因此，他将消除隐藏所有真实知识的幻象（玛雅）。 他重复着神的名字，直到它以干光或荣耀的形式出现在他面前。 虽与生命之事有关，即与血、骨、垢之身之事有关。那些盲目、麻痹、充满弱点和错误的器官；充满干渴、饥饿、悲伤、迷恋的心；他仍然努力不把这些事情视为现实。 他给狗做了一个伴侣，用自己的食物来尊敬它，以便更好地思考精神。 他练习了所有与元气或体内聚集的空气有关的五种操作。 他非常注重调息（Pranayama），即逐渐抑制呼吸，并通过以下方式确保心灵的固定。 通过将视线和思想放在鼻尖上，他感知到了气味。在舌尖上他认识了味道，在舌根上他认识了声音，等等。 他练习八十四种体式，举手观天，直到不再感到冷热饥渴的不便。 他特别喜欢莲花姿势，即将双脚放在两侧，左手握住右手，右手握住左手。 在压抑呼吸的过程中，他让它的呼吸最多达到十二指的宽度，并逐渐缩小与鼻孔的距离，直到将其限制在距离鼻子十二指的长度，甚至在抑制了一些之后。那时他会从不比他的心更远的地方画它。 为了尊重时间，他一开始保留了二十六秒的灵感，然后逐渐延长这个时间，直至完美。 他盘腿而坐，用手指关闭所有灵感的通道，并练习 Prityahara，即通过冥想和专注来约束身体和心灵的力量，对此有四个敌人，即昏昏欲睡的心、人类的情欲、混乱的心、以及除了独一梵天之外对任何事物的执着。 他还修持戒律（Yama），即无害、真实、诚实、放弃世间一切邪恶，除了祭祀之外拒绝布施；以及尼哈玛（Nihama），即相对于污秽之后用水的纯洁、对一切事物的快乐。无论顺境或逆境，饥饿时断食，压低身体。

有一天，乔吉人马杜萨丹 (Madhusadan) 到一户人家取食物，户主看到他就开始说：“今天就带你的食物来这里吧！”客人坐下来，当食物准备好后，主人就给他洗脚和手，并把他带到Chauka（即提供饭菜的方形地方），让他坐下并坐在他旁边。他引用了经文：“晚上，管家不得遣散任何客人：他是由归来的太阳送来的，无论他来得合时宜还是不合时宜，他都不得在家里逗留而没有招待：让我不要吃任何精致的食物，不请客人吃：客人满意，管家必定会富贵、名誉、长寿、上天堂。”

然后，户主的妻子来上菜，米饭、豌豆、油和香料，都是用新的瓦锅用纯柴火煮的。饭菜已经吃完了，剩下的还没有吃完，这时女人的小孩子开始大声哭泣，并抓住了母亲的衣服。她努力挣脱，男孩却不肯放手，越哄越哭，而且很固执。母亲听了很生气，把孩子抱起来扔到火上，立刻就烧成了灰烬。

乔吉人马杜萨丹见状，没有吃东西就站了起来。家主对他说：“你为什么不吃呢？”他回答说：“我是‘阿提提’，就是说，要在你家里招待，但是一个人怎么能在一个做了罗刹般（恶魔）行为的人的屋檐下吃饭呢？不是说：“不克制自己的情欲，人生就枉然”吗？ ‘愚昧的君王，贪财的人，软弱的孩子，贪图得不到的东西’？此外，“国王即使在飞行时也能消灭敌人；大象的触碰和蛇的呼吸都是致命的。但恶人却一边笑一边毁灭’？”

家主听了，笑了；不久，他起身前往公寓的另一处，带回来一本书，书里讲的是Sanjivnividya，即起死回生的科学。这是他从隐藏的地方拿来的，两根横梁几乎互相接触，两端在对面的墙上。这本珍贵的书是单页的，大约六英寸宽，长度是这个长度的三倍，纸上沾有黄色雌黄和罗望子种子的汁液，以防止昆虫。

户主掀开装书的布，解开上下的平板，从里面取出一张符咒。复诵此咒，经多次仪式，即令孩子复活。其他财富可能会被偷走，或因支出而减少，但知识是不朽的，支出越大，增长就越大。它不能与任何人分享，而且它藐视小偷的力量。”

乔吉见状，心中暗想：“如果我能得到那本书，我就能让我的爱人起死回生，从此放弃这种不舒服的姿势和呼吸困难的过程。”有了这个决心，他坐下来吃东西，然后留在了屋子里。

夜幕终于降临了，过了一会儿，大家都吃过晚饭，各回各家睡觉了。乔吉也到屋子的一处休息，但他并没有让睡意闭上眼睛。当他以为黑暗已经过去了四分之一，大家都在沉睡时，他就悄悄地起身，走进主人的房间，从梁上取下书。 -结束并走他的路。

乔吉人马杜萨丹径直前往美丽的茉莉花被烧毁的地方。在那里，他发现他的两个竞争对手坐在一起交谈并比较经验。他们立刻认出了他，就大声喊道：“兄弟！你也曾在世间流浪过；告诉我们这个——你学到了什么对我们有益的东西吗？他回答说：“我学会了起死回生的科学”；他们都惊呼道：“如果你真的学到了这些知识，那就让我们心爱的人复活吧。”

尽管空中有可怕的景象，豺狼、猫头鹰、乌鸦、猫、驴、秃鹰、狗和蜥蜴的叫声，以及无数看不见的生物的愤怒，例如阎王（冥王星）的使者，马杜萨丹继续念咒语。 、鬼魂、魔鬼、恶魔、小鬼、恶魔、天神、魅魔等等。三位恋人都从自己的身体中抽出血液，将其献给女神昌迪，并重复以下咒语：“万岁！至高无上的妄想！冰雹！宇宙女神！冰雹！你是满足所有人愿望的人。我可以冒昧地把我身体的血献给你吗？你愿意接受它，并对我表示祝福吗？”

然后，他们将自己的肉献为燔祭，每个人都祈祷：“女神啊，请赐予我吧！看到少女再次复活，我以我自己的肉身献给你，祈求你对我有利，这与我的热情成正比。一次又一次向你致敬，在神秘的音节之下！任何！”

然后他们把骨头和骨灰堆成一堆，这些都是特里比克拉姆和巴曼精心保管的。当乔吉·马杜萨丹继续念咒语时，一股白色的蒸气从地面升起，逐渐凝结，呈现出一种灵性的形式——灵魂的液体包膜。三名观众感觉自己的血液凝固了，骨头和骨灰逐渐被吸收成之前的影子形状，直到少女玛杜瓦蒂恳求将他们带回家给她的母亲时，他们才恢复原状。

然后，爱神卡玛（Kama）弄瞎了他们的眼睛，他们开始为谁应该拥有美丽的女仆而激烈争吵。每个人都想成为她唯一的主人。特里比克拉姆宣称骨头是咒语的伟大事实；巴曼指着骨灰发誓；马杜萨丹嘲笑他们俩。没有人能够决定这场争端；最聪明的医生都不知所措。至于拉贾——好吧！我们不追求国王的机智或智慧。不知道伟大的拉惹维克拉姆能否决定这个女人属于谁？

“献给巴曼，那个保存她骨灰的人，伙计！”英雄大声说道，他对恶魔的自由言论感到不小的冒犯。

“然而，”拜塔尔无礼地回答道，“如果特里比克拉姆没有保存她的骨头，她怎么可能复活呢？如果马杜萨丹没有学会起死回生的科学，她怎么可能复活呢？至少在我看来是这样。但也许你的皇家智慧可以解释这一点。”

“魔鬼！”国王愤怒地说：“特里比克拉姆保存了她的尸骨，他的行为使自己取代了她儿子的位置；因此他不能娶她。马杜萨丹使她复活，并献出了她的生命，显然他是她的父亲。那么他就不可能成为她的丈夫。因此，她是巴曼的妻子，巴曼收集了她的骨灰。”

“国王啊，我很高兴看到，”吸血鬼惊呼道，“尽管我有预感，但我们还没有分手。我认为这些小小的旅行就像恋人的争吵一样，是更紧密结合的前奏。在你离开的情况下，我们仍然会进行一些暂停。”

说着，拜塔尔再次登上了树，悬浮在那里。

“这次我坐下来听听他的故事，不是更好吗？”国王抓回逃亡者后想道。也许行走和思考的双重练习让我感到困惑。”

有了这个想法，维克拉姆把他的包袱放在地上，用头巾和腰带扎紧。然后他在它面前盘腿坐下，并吩咐他的儿子也这样做。

吸血鬼强烈反对这一措施，因为他声称这违背了他与拉贾之间的盟约。维克拉姆回答说，引用了协议中的字句，证明协议中没有提及步行或坐着。

然后拜塔尔就闷闷不乐，发誓不再多说一句话。但他也被命运的锁链所束缚。不久，他张开了嘴唇，以正常的前奏，表明他要讲述一个真实的故事。

拜塔尔河又恢复了。

Of all the learned Brahmans in the learnedest university of Gaur (Bengal) none was so celebrated as Vishnu Swami. He could write verse as well as prose in dead languages, not very correctly, but still, better than all his fellows—which constituted him a distinguished writer. He had history, theosophy, and the four Vedas of Scriptures at his fingers’ ends, he was skilled in the argute science of Nyasa or Disputation, his mind was a mine of Pauranic or cosmogonico-traditional lore, handed down from the ancient fathers to the modern fathers: and he had written bulky commentaries, exhausting all that tongue of man has to say, upon the obscure text of some old philosopher whose works upon ethics, poetry, and rhetoric were supposed by the sages of Gaur to contain the germs of everything knowable. His fame went over all the country; yea, from country to country. He was a sea of excellent qualities, the father and mother of Brahmans, cows, and women, and the horror of loose persons, cut-throats, courtiers, and courtesans. As a benefactor he was equal to Karna, most liberal of heroes. In regard to truth he was equal to the veracious king Yudhishtira.

True, he was sometimes at a loss to spell a common word in his mother tongue, and whilst he knew to a fingerbreadth how many palms and paces the sun, the moon, and all the stars are distant from the earth, he would have been puzzled to tell you where the region called Yavana[119]The land of Greece. lies. Whilst he could enumerate, in strict chronological succession, every important event that happened five or six million years before he was born, he was profoundly ignorant of those that occurred in his own day. And once he asked a friend seriously, if a cat let loose in the jungle would not in time become a tiger.

Yet did all the members of alma mater Kasi, Pandits[120]Savans, professors. So in the old saying, “Hanta, Pandit Sansara “—Alas! the world is learned! This a little antedates the well-known schoolmaster. as well as students, look with awe upon Vishnu Swami’s livid cheeks, and lack-lustre eyes, grimed hands and soiled cottons.

Now it so happened that this wise and pious Brahmanic peer had four sons, whom he brought up in the strictest and most serious way. They were taught to repeat their prayers long before they understood a word of them, and when they reached the age of four[121]Children are commonly sent to school at the age of five. Girls are not taught to read, under the common idea that they will become widows if they do.they had read a variety of hymns and spiritual songs. Then they were set to learn by heart precepts that inculcate sacred duties, and arguments relating to theology, abstract and concrete.

Their father, who was also their tutor, sedulously cultivated, as all the best works upon education advise, their implicit obedience, humble respect, warm attachment, and the virtues and sentiments generally. He praised them secretly and reprehended them openly, to exercise their humility. He derided their looks, and dressed them coarsely, to preserve them from vanity and conceit. Whenever they anticipated a “treat,” he punctually disappointed them, to teach them self-denial. Often when he had promised them a present, he would revoke, not break his word, in order that discipline might have a name and habitat in his household. And knowing by experience how much stronger than love is fear, he frequently threatened, browbeat, and overawed them with the rod and the tongue, with the terrors of this world, and with the horrors of the next, that they might be kept in the right way by dread of falling into the bottomless pits that bound it on both sides.

At the age of six they were transferred to the Chatushpati[122]Meaning the place of reading the four Shastras. or school. Every morning the teacher and his pupils assembled in the hut where the different classes were called up by turns. They laboured till noon, and were allowed only two hours, a moiety of the usual time, for bathing, eating, sleep, and worship, which took up half the period. At 3 P.M. they resumed their labours, repeating to the tutor what they had learned by heart, and listening to the meaning of it: this lasted till twilight. They then worshipped, ate and drank for an hour: after which came a return of study, repeating the day’s lessons, till 10 P.M.

In their rare days of ease—for the learned priest, mindful of the words of the wise, did not wish to dull them by everlasting work—they were enjoined to disport themselves with the gravity and the decorum that befit young Samditats, not to engage in night frolics, not to use free jests or light expressions, not to draw pictures on the walls, not to eat honey, flesh, and sweet substances turned acid, not to talk to little girls at the well-side, on no account to wear sandals, carry an umbrella, or handle a die even for love, and by no means to steal their neighbours’ mangoes.

As they advanced in years their attention during work time was unremittingly directed to the Vedas. Wordly studies were almost excluded, or to speak more correctly, whenever wordly studies were brought upon the carpet, they were so evil entreated, that they well nigh lost all form and feature. History became “The Annals of India on Brahminical Principles,” opposed to the Buddhistical; geography “The Lands of the Vedas,” none other being deemed worthy of notice; and law, “The Institutes of Manu,” then almost obsolete, despite their exceeding sanctity.

But Jatu-harini[123]A certain goddess who plays tricks with mankind. If a son when grown up act differently from what his parents did, people say that he has been changed in the womb. had evidently changed these children before they were born; and Shani[124]Shani is the planet Saturn, which has an exceedingly baleful influence in India as elsewhere. must have been in the ninth mansion when they came to light.

Each youth as he attained the mature age of twelve was formally entered at the University of Kasi, where, without loss of time, the first became a gambler, the second a confirmed libertine, the third a thief, and the fourth a high Buddhist, or in other words an utter atheist.

Here King Vikram frowned at his son, a hint that he had better not behave himself as the children of highly moral and religious parents usually do. The young prince understood him, and briefly remarking that such things were common in distinguished Brahman families, asked the Baital what he meant by the word “Atheist.”

Of a truth (answered the Vampire) it is most difficult to explain. The sages assign to it three or four several meanings: first, one who denies that the gods exist secondly, one who owns that the gods exist but denies that they busy themselves with human affairs; and thirdly, one who believes in the gods and in their providence, but also believes that they are easily to be set aside. Similarly some atheists derive all things from dead and unintelligent matter; others from matter living and energetic but without sense or will: others from matter with forms and qualities generable and conceptible; and others from a plastic and methodical nature. Thus the Vishnu Swamis of the world have invested the subject with some confusion. The simple, that is to say, the mass of mortality, have confounded that confusion by reproachfully applying the word atheist to those whose opinions differ materially from their own.

But I being at present, perhaps happily for myself, a Vampire, and having, just now, none of these human or inhuman ideas, meant simply to say that the pious priest’s fourth son being great at second and small in the matter of first causes, adopted to their fullest extent the doctrines of the philosophical Buddhas.[125]The Eleatic or Materialistic school of Hindu philosophy, which agrees to explode an intelligent separate First Cause. Nothing according to him exists but the five elements, earth, water, fire, air (or wind), and vacuum, and from the last proceeded the penultimate, and so forth. With the sage Patanjali, he held the universe to have the power of perpetual progression.[126]The writings of this school give an excellent view of the “progressive system,” which has popularly been asserted to be a modern idea. But Hindu philosophy seems to have exhausted every fancy that can spring from the brain of man. He called that Matra (matter), which is an eternal and infinite principle, beginningless and endless. Organization, intelligence, and design, he opined, are inherent in matter as growth is in a tree. He did not believe in soul or spirit, because it could not be detected in the body, and because it was a departure from physiological analogy. The idea “I am,” according to him, was not the identification of spirit with matter, but a product of the mutation of matter in this cloud-like, error-formed world. He believed in Substance (Sat) and scoffed at Unsubstance (Asat). He asserted the subtlety and globularity of atoms which are uncreate. He made mind and intellect a mere secretion of the brain, or rather words expressing not a thing, but a state of things. Reason was to him developed instinct, and life an element of the atmosphere affecting certain organisms. He held good and evil to be merely geographical and chronological expressions, and he opined that what is called Evil is mostly an active and transitive form of Good. Law was his great Creator of all things, but he refused a creator of law, because such a creator would require another creator, and so on in a quasi-interminable series up to absurdity. This reduced his law to a manner of haphazard. To those who, arguing against it, asked him their favourite question, How often might a man after he had jumbled a set of letters in a bag fling them out upon the ground before they would fall into an exact poem? he replied that the calculation was beyond his arithmetic, but that the man had only to jumble and fling long enough inevitably to arrive at that end. He rejected the necessity as well as the existence of revelation, and he did not credit the miracles of Krishna, because, according to him, nature never suspends her laws, and, moreover, he had never seen aught supernatural. He ridiculed the idea of Mahapralaya, or the great destruction, for as the world had no beginning, so it will have no end. He objected to absorption, facetiously observing with the sage Jamadagni, that it was pleasant to eat sweetmeats, but that for his part he did not wish to become the sweetmeat itself. He would not believe that Vishnu had formed the universe out of the wax in his ears. He positively asserted that trees are not bodies in which the consequences of merit and demerit are received. Nor would he conclude that to men were attached rewards and punishments from all eternity. He made light of the Sanskara, or sacrament. He admitted Satwa, Raja, and Tama,[127]Tama is the natural state of matter, Raja is passion acting upon nature, and Satwa is excellence These are the three gunas or qualities of matter. but only as properties of matter. He acknowledged gross matter (Sthulasharir), and atomic matter (Shukshma-sharir), but not Linga-sharir, or the archetype of bodies. To doubt all things was the foundation of his theory, and to scoff at all who would not doubt was the corner-stone of his practice. In debate he preferred logical and mathematical grounds, requiring a categorical “because” in answer to his “why?” He was full of morality and natural religion, which some say is no religion at all. He gained the name of atheist by declaring with Gotama that there are innumerable worlds, that the earth has nothing beneath it but the circumambient air, and that the core of the globe is incandescent. And he was called a practical atheist—a worse form apparently—for supporting the following dogma: “that though creation may attest that a creator has been, it supplies no evidence to prove that a creator still exists.” On which occasion, Shiromani, a nonplussed theologian, asked him, “By whom and for what purpose werst thou sent on earth?” The youth scoffed at the word “sent,” and replied, “Not being thy Supreme Intelligence, or Infinite Nihility, I am unable to explain the phenomenon.” Upon which he quoted—

How sunk in darkness Gaur must be
Whose guide is blind Shiromani!

At length it so happened that the four young men, having frequently been surprised in flagrant delict, were summoned to the dread presence of the university Gurus,[128]Spiritual preceptors and learned men. who addressed them as follows:—

“There are four different characters in the world: he who perfectly obeys the commands; he who practices the commands, but follows evil; he who does neither good nor evil; and he who does nothing but evil. The third character, it is observed, is also an offender, for he neglects that which he ought to observe. But ye all belong to the fourth category.”

Then turning to the elder they said:

“In works written upon the subject of government it is advised, ‘Cut off the gambler’s nose and ears, hold up his name to public contempt, and drive him out of the country, that he may thus become an example to others. For they who play must more often lose than win; and losing, they must either pay or not pay. In the latter case they forfeit caste, in the former they utterly reduce themselves. And though a gambler’s wife and children are in the house, do not consider them to be so, since it is not known when they will be lost.[129]Under certain limitations, gambling is allowed by Hindu law and the winner has power over the person and property of the loser. No “debts of honour” in Hindustan!] Thus he is left in a state of perfect not-twoness (solitude), and he will be reborn in hell.’ O young man! thou hast set a bad example to others, therefore shalt thou immediately exchange this university for a country life.”

Then they spoke to the second offender thus:——

“The wise shun woman, who can fascinate a man in the twinkling of an eye; but the foolish, conceiving an affection for her, forfeit in the pursuit of pleasure their truthfulness, reputation, and good disposition, their way of life and mode of thought, their vows and their religion. And to such the advice of their spiritual teachers comes amiss, whilst they make others as bad as themselves. For it is said, ‘He who has lost all sense of shame, fears not to disgrace another; ‘and there is the proverb, ‘A wild cat that devours its own young is not likely to let a rat escape;’ therefore must thou too, O young man! quit this seat of learning with all possible expedition.”

The young man proceeded to justify himself by quotations from the Lila-shastra, his text-book, by citing such lines as—

Fortune favours folly and force,

and by advising the elderly professors to improve their skill in the peace and war of love. But they drove him out with execrations.

As sagely and as solemnly did the Pandits and the Gurus reprove the thief and the atheist, but they did not dispense the words of wisdom in equal proportions. They warned the former that petty larceny is punishable with fine, theft on a larger scale with mutilation of the hand, and robbery, when detected in the act, with loss of life[130]Quotations from standard works on Hindu criminal law, which in some points at least is almost as absurd as our civilized codes.; that for cutting purses, or for snatching them out of a man’s waistcloth,[131]Hindus carry their money tied up in a kind of sheet which is wound round the waist and thrown over the shoulder. ‘the first penalty is chopping off the fingers, the second is the loss of the hand, and the third is death. Then they call him a dishonour to the college, and they said, “Thou art as a woman, the greatest of plunderers; other robbers purloin property which is worthless, thou stealest the best; they plunder in the night, thou in the day,” and so forth. They told him that he was a fellow who had read his Chauriya Vidya to more purpose then his ritual.[132]A thieves’ manual in the Sanskrit tongue; it aspires to the dignity of a “Scripture.” And they drove him from the door as he in his shamelessness began to quote texts about the four approved ways of housebreaking, namely, picking out burnt bricks, cutting through unbaked bricks, throwing water on a mud wall, and boring one of wood with a centre-bit.

But they spent six mortal hours in convicting the atheist, whose abominations they refuted by every possible argumentation: by inference, by comparison, and by sounds, by Sruti and Smriti, i.e., revelational and traditional, rational and evidential, physical and metaphysical, analytical and synthetical, philosophical and philological, historical, and so forth. But they found all their endeavours vain. “For,” it is said, “a man who has lost all shame, who can talk without sense, and who tries to cheat his opponent, will never get tired, and will never be put down.” He declared that a non-ad was far more probable than a monad (the active principle), or the duad (the passive principle or matter.) He compared their faith with a bubble in the water, of which we can never predicate that it does exist or it does not. It is, he said, unreal, as when the thirsty mistakes the meadow mist for a pool of water. He proved the eternity of sound.[133]All sounds, say the Hindus, are of similar origin, and they do not die; if they did, they could not be remembered. He impudently recounted and justified all the villanies of the Vamachari or left-handed sects. He told them that they had taken up an ass’s load of religion, and had better apply to honest industry. He fell foul of the gods; accused Yama of kicking his own mother, Indra of tempting the wife of his spiritual guide, and Shiva of associating with low women. Thus, he said, no one can respect them. Do not we say when it thunders awfully, “the rascally gods are dying!” And when it is too wet, “these villain gods are sending too much rain”? Briefly, the young Brahman replied to and harangued them all so impertinently, if not pertinently, that they, waxing angry, fell upon him with their staves, and drove him out of assembly.

Then the four thriftless youths returned home to their father, who in his just indignation had urged their disgrace upon the Pandits and Gurus, otherwise these dignitaries would never have resorted to such extreme measures with so distinguished a house. He took the opportunity of turning them out upon the world, until such time as they might be able to show substantial signs of reform. “For,” he said, “those who have read science in their boyhood, and who in youth, agitated by evil passions, have remained in the insolence of ignorance, feel regret in their old age, and are consumed by the fire of avarice.” In order to supply them with a motive for the task proposed, he stopped their monthly allowance But he added, if they would repair to the neighbouring university of Jayasthal, and there show themselves something better than a disgrace to their family, he would direct their maternal uncle to supply them with all the necessaries of food and raiment.

In vain the youths attempted, with sighs and tears and threats of suicide, to soften the paternal heart. He was inexorable, for two reasons. In the first place, after wondering away the wonder with which he regarded his own failure, he felt that a stigma now attached to the name of the pious and learned Vishnu Swami, whose lectures upon “Management during Teens,” and whose “Brahman Young Man’s Own Book,” had become standard works. Secondly, from a sense of duty, he determined to omit nothing that might tend to reclaim the reprobates. As regards the monthly allowance being stopped, the reverend man had become every year a little fonder of his purse; he had hoped that his sons would have qualified themselves to take pupils, and thus achieve for themselves, as he phrased it, “A genteel independence”; whilst they openly derided the career, calling it “an admirable provision for the more indigent members of the middle classes.” For which reason he referred them to their maternal uncle, a man of known and remarkable penuriousness.

The four ne’er-do-weals, foreseeing what awaited them at Jayasthal, deferred it as a last resource; determining first to see a little life, and to push their way in the world, before condemning themselves to the tribulations of reform.

They tried to live without a monthly allowance, and notably they failed; it was squeezing, as men say, oil from sand. The gambler, having no capital, and, worse still, no credit, lost two or three suvernas[134]Gold pieces. at play, and could not pay them; in consequence of which he was soundly beaten with iron-shod staves, and was nearly compelled by the keeper of the hell to sell himself into slavery. Thus he became disgusted; and telling his brethren that they would find him at Jayasthal, he departed, with the intention of studying wisdom.

A month afterwards came the libertine’s turn to be disappointed. He could no longer afford fine new clothes; even a well-washed coat was beyond his means. He had reckoned upon his handsome face, and he had matured a plan for laying various elderly conquests under contribution. Judge, therefore, his disgust when all the women—high and low, rich and poor, old and young, ugly and beautiful—seeing the end of his waistcloth thrown empty over his shoulder, passed him in the streets without even deigning a look. The very shopkeepers’ wives, who once had adored his mustachio and had never ceased talking of his “elegant” gait, despised him; and the wealthy old person who formerly supplied his small feet with the choicest slippers, left him to starve. Upon which he also in a state of repentance, followed his brother to acquire knowledge.

“Am I not,” quoth the thief to himself, “a cat in climbing, a deer in running, a snake in twisting, a hawk in pouncing, a dog in scenting?—keen as a hare, tenacious as a wolf, strong as a lion?—a lamp in the night, a horse on a plain, a mule on a stony path, a boat in the water, a rock on land[135]These are the qualifications specified by Hindu classical authorities as necessary to make a distinguished thief.?” The reply to his own questions was of course affirmative. But despite all these fine qualities, and notwithstanding his scrupulous strictness in invocating the house-breaking tool and in devoting a due portion of his gains to the gods of plunder,[136]Every Hindu is in a manner born to a certain line of life, virtuous or vicious, honest or dishonest and his Dharma, or religious duty, consists in conforming to the practice and the worship of his profession. The “Thug,” for instance, worships Bhawani, who enables him to murder successfully; and his remorse would arise from neglecting to murder. he was caught in a store-room by the proprietor, who inexorably handed him over to justice. As he belonged to the priestly caste,[137]Hindu law sensibly punishes, in theory at least, for the same offence the priest more severely than the layman—a hint for him to practice what he preaches. the fine imposed upon him was heavy. He could not pay it, and therefore he was thrown into a dungeon, where he remained for some time. But at last he escaped from jail, when he made his parting bow to Kartikeya,[138]The Hindu Mercury, god of rascals. stole a blanket from one of the guards, and set out for Jayasthal, cursing his old profession.

The atheist also found himself in a position that deprived him of all his pleasures. He delighted in afterdinner controversies, and in bringing the light troops of his wit to bear upon the unwieldy masses of lore and logic opposed to him by polemical Brahmans who, out of respect for his father, did not lay an action against him for overpowering them in theological disputation.[139]A penal offence in India. How is it that we English have omitted to codify it? The laws of Manu also punish severely all disdainful expressions, such as “tush” or “pish,” addressed during argument to a priest. In the strange city to which he had removed no one knew the son of Vishnu Swami, and no one cared to invite him to the house. Once he attempted his usual trick upon a knot of sages who, sitting round a tank, were recreating themselves with quoting mystical Sanskrit shlokas[140]Stanzas, generally speaking, on serious subjects. of abominable long-windedness. The result was his being obliged to ply his heels vigorously in flight from the justly incensed literati, to whom he had said “tush” and “pish,” at least a dozen times in as many minutes. He therefore also followed the example of his brethren, and started for Jayasthal with all possible expedition.

Arrived at the house of their maternal uncle, the young men, as by one assent, began to attempt the unloosening of his purse-strings. Signally failing in this and in other notable schemes, they determined to lay in that stock of facts and useful knowledge which might reconcile them with their father, and restore them to that happy life at Gaur which they then despised, and which now brought tears into their eyes.

Then they debated with one another what they should study

*******

That branch of the preternatural, popularly called “white magic,” found with them favour.

*******

They chose a Guru or teacher strictly according to the orders of their faith, a wise man of honourable family and affable demeanour, who was not a glutton nor leprous, nor blind of one eye, nor blind of both eyes, nor very short, nor suffering from whitlows,[141]Whitlows on the nails show that the sufferer, in the last life, stole gold from a Brahman.asthma, or other disease, nor noisy and talkative, nor with any defect about the fingers and toes, nor subject to his wife.

*******

A grand discovery had been lately made by a certain physiologico-philosophico-psychologico-materialist, a Jayasthalian. In investigating the vestiges of creation, the cause of causes, the effect of effects, and the original origin of that Matra (matter) which some regard as an entity, others as a non-entity, others self-existent, others merely specious and therefore unexistent, he became convinced that the fundamental form of organic being is a globule having another globule within itself After inhabiting a garret and diving into the depths of his self-consciousness for a few score years, he was able to produce such complex globule in triturated and roasted flint by means of—I will not say what. Happily for creation in general, the discovery died a natural death some centuries ago. An edifying spectacle, indeed, for the world to see; a cross old man sitting amongst his gallipots and crucibles, creating animalculae, providing the corpses of birds, beasts, and fishes with what is vulgarly called life, and supplying to epigenesis all the latest improvements!

In those days the invention, being a novelty, engrossed the thoughts of the universal learned, who were in a fever of excitement about it. Some believed in it so implicity that they saw in every experiment a hundred things which they did not see. Others were so sceptical and contradictory that they would not preceive what they did see. Those blended with each fact their own deductions, whilst these span round every reality the web of their own prejudices. Curious to say, the Jayasthalians, amongst whom the luminous science arose, hailed it with delight, whilst the Gaurians derided its claim to be considered an important addition to human knowledge.

Let me try to remember a few of their words.

“Unfortunate human nature,” wrote the wise of Gaur against the wise of Jayasthal, “wanted no crowning indignity but this! You had already proved that the body is made of the basest element—earth. You had argued away the immovability, the ubiquity, the permanency, the eternity, and the divinity of the soul, for is not your favourite axiom, ‘It is the nature of limbs which thinketh in man’? The immortal mind is, according to you, an ignoble viscus; the god-like gift of reason is the instinct of a dog somewhat highly developed. Still you left us something to hope. Still you allowed us one boast. Still life was a thread connecting us with the Giver of Life. But now, with an impious hand, in blasphemous rage ye have rent asunder that last frail tie.” And so forth.

“Welcome! thrice welcome! this latest and most admirable development of human wisdom,” wrote the sage Jayasthalians against the sage Gaurians, “which has assigned to man his proper state and status and station in the magnificent scale of being. We have not created the facts which we have investigated, and which we now proudly publish. We have proved materialism to be nature’s own system. But our philosophy of matter cannot overturn any truth, because, if erroneous, it will necessarily sink into oblivion; if real, it will tend only to instruct and to enlighten the world. Wise are ye in your generation, O ye sages of Gaur, yet withal wondrous illogical.” And much of this kind.

Concerning all which, mighty king! I, as a Vampire, have only to remark that those two learned bodies, like your Rajaship’s Nine Gems of Science, were in the habit of talking most about what they least understood.

The four young men applied the whole force of their talents to mastering the difficulties of the life-giving process; and in due time, their industry obtained its reward.

Then they determined to return home. As with beating hearts they approached the old city, their birthplace, and gazed with moistened eyes upon its tall spires and grim pagodas, its verdant meads and venerable groves, they saw a Kanjar,[142]A low caste Hindu, who catches and exhibits snakes and performs other such mean offices. who, having tied up in a bundle the skin and bones of a tiger which he had found dead, was about to go on his way. Then said the thief to the gambler, “Take we these remains with us, and by means of them prove the truth of our science before the people of Gaur, to the offence of their noses.[143]Meaning, in spite of themselves.” Being now possessed of knowledge, they resolved to apply it to its proper purpose, namely, power over the property of others. Accordingly, the wencher, the gambler, and the atheist kept the Kanjar in conversation whilst the thief vivified a shank bone; and the bone thereupon stood upright, and hopped about in so grotesque and wonderful a way that the man, being frightened, fled as if I had been close behind him.

Vishnu Swami had lately written a very learned commentary on the mystical words of Lokakshi:

“The Scriptures are at variance—the tradition is at variance. He who gives a meaning of his own, quoting the Vedas, is no philosopher.

“True philosophy, through ignorance, is concealed as in the fissures of a rock.

“But the way of the Great One—that is to be followed.”

And the success of his book had quite effaced from the Brahman mind the holy man’s failure in bringing up his children. He followed up this by adding to his essay on education a twentieth tome, containing recipes for the “Reformation of Prodigals.”

The learned and reverend father received his sons with open arms. He had heard from his brother-in-law that the youths were qualified to support themselves, and when informed that they wished to make a public experiment of their science, he exerted himself, despite his disbelief in it, to forward their views.

The Pandits and Gurus were long before they would consent to attend what they considered dealings with Yama (the Devil). In consequence, however, of Vishnu Swami’s name and importunity, at length, on a certain day, all the pious, learned, and reverend tutors, teachers, professors, prolocutors, pastors, spiritual fathers, poets, philosophers, mathematicians, schoolmasters, pedagogues, bear-leaders, institutors, gerund-grinders, preceptors, dominies, brushers, coryphaei, dry-nurses, coaches, mentors, monitors, lecturers, prelectors, fellows, and heads of houses at the university at Gaur, met together in a large garden, where they usually diverted themselves out of hours with ball-tossing, pigeon-tumbling, and kite-flying.

Presently the four young men, carrying their bundle of bones and the other requisites, stepped forward, walking slowly with eyes downcast, like shrinking cattle: for it is said, the Brahman must not run, even when it rains.

After pronouncing an impromptu speech, composed for them by their father, and so stuffed with erudition that even the writer hardly understood it, they announced their wish to prove, by ocular demonstration, the truth of a science upon which their short-sighted rivals of Jayasthal had cast cold water, but which, they remarked in the eloquent peroration of their discourse, the sages of Gaur had welcomed with that wise and catholic spirit of inquiry which had ever characterized their distinguished body.

Huge words, involved sentences, and the high-flown compliment, exceedingly undeserved, obscured, I suppose, the bright wits of the intellectual convocation, which really began to think that their liberality of opinion deserved all praise.

None objected to what was being prepared, except one of the heads of houses; his appeal was generally scouted, because his Sanskrit style was vulgarly intelligible, and he had the bad name of being a practical man. The metaphysician Rashik Lall sneered to Vaiswata the poet, who passed on the look to the theo-philosopher Vardhaman. Haridatt the antiquarian whispered the metaphysician Vasudeva, who burst into a loud laugh; whilst Narayan, Jagasharma, and Devaswami, all very learned in the Vedas, opened their eyes and stared at him with well-simulated astonishment. So he, being offended, said nothing more, but arose and walked home.

A great crowd gathered round the four young men and their father, as opening the bundle that contained the tiger’s remains, they prepared for their task.

One of the operators spread the bones upon the ground and fixed each one into its proper socket, not forgetting even the teeth and tusks.

The second connected, by means of a marvellous unguent, the skeleton with the muscles and heart of an elephant, which he had procured for the purpose.

The third drew from his pouch the brain and eyes of a large tom-cat, which he carefully fitted into the animal’s skull, and then covered the body with the hide of a young rhinoceros.

Then the fourth—the atheist—who had been directing the operation, produced a globule having another globule within itself. And as the crowd pressed on them, craning their necks, breathless with anxiety, he placed the Principle of Organic Life in the tiger’s body with such effect that the monster immediately heaved its chest, breathed, agitated its limbs, opened its eyes, jumped to its feet, shook itself, glared around, and began to gnash its teeth and lick its chops, lashing the while its ribs with its tail.

The sages sprang back, and the beast sprang forward. With a roar like thunder during Elephanta-time,[144]When the moon is in a certain lunar mansion, at the conclusion of the wet season. it flew at the nearest of the spectators, flung Vishnu Swami to the ground and clawed his four sons. Then, not even stopping to drink their blood, it hurried after the flying herd of wise men. Jostling and tumbling, stumbling and catching at one another’s long robes, they rushed in hottest haste towards the garden gate. But the beast, having the muscles of an elephant as well as the bones of a tiger, made a few bounds of eighty or ninety feet each, easily distanced them, and took away all chance of escape. To be brief: as the monster was frightfully hungry after its long fast, and as the imprudent young men had furnished it with admirable implements of destruction, it did not cease its work till one hundred and twenty-one learned and highly distinguished Pandits and Gurus lay upon the ground chawed, clawed, sucked dry, and in most cases stone-dead. Amongst them, I need hardly say, were the sage Vishnu Swami and his four sons.

Having told this story the Vampire hung silent for a time. Presently he resumed—

“Now, heed my words, Raja Vikram! I am about to ask thee, Which of all those learned men was the most finished fool? The answer is easily found, yet it must be distasteful to thee. Therefore mortify thy vanity, as soon as possible, or I shall be talking, and thou wilt be walking through this livelong night, to scanty purpose. Remember! science without understanding is of little use; indeed, understanding is superior to science, and those devoid of understanding perish as did the persons who revivified the tiger. Before this, I warned thee to beware of thyself, and of thine own conceit. Here, then, is an opportunity for self-discipline—which of all those learned men was the greatest fool?”

The warrior king mistook the kind of mortification imposed upon him, and pondered over the uncomfortable nature of the reply—in the presence of his son.

Again the Baital taunted him.

“The greatest fool of all,” at last said Vikram, in slow and by no means willing accents, “was the father. Is it not said, ‘There is no fool like an old fool’?”

“Gramercy!” cried the Vampire, bursting out into a discordant laugh, “I now return to my tree. By this head! I never before heard a father so readily condemn a father.” With these words he disappeared, slipping out of the bundle.

The Raja scolded his son a little for want of obedience, and said that he had always thought more highly of his acuteness—never could have believed that he would have been taken in by so shallow a trick. Dharma Dhwaj answered not a word to this, but promised to be wiser another time.

Then they returned to the tree, and did what they had so often done before.

And, as before, the Baital held his tongue for a time. Presently he began as follows.

The lady Chandraprabha, daughter of the Raja Subichar, was a particularly beautiful girl, and marriage-able withal. One day as Vasanta, the Spring, began to assert its reign over the world, animate and inanimate, she went accompanied by her young friends and companions to stroll about her father’s pleasure-garden.

The fair troop wandered through sombre groves, where the dark tamale-tree entwined its branches with the pale green foliage of the nim, and the pippal’s domes of quivering leaves contrasted with the columnar aisles of the banyan fig. They admired the old monarchs of the forest, bearded to the waist with hangings of moss, the flowing creepers delicately climbing from the lower branches to the topmost shoots, and the cordage of llianas stretching from trunk to trunk like bridges for the monkeys to pass over. Then they issued into a clear space dotted with asokas bearing rich crimson flowers, cliterias of azure blue, madhavis exhibiting petals virgin white as the snows on Himalaya, and jasmines raining showers of perfumed blossoms upon the grateful earth. They could not sufficiently praise the tall and graceful stem of the arrowy areca, contrasting with the solid pyramid of the cypress, and the more masculine stature of the palm. Now they lingered in the trellised walks closely covered over with vines and creepers; then they stopped to gather the golden bloom weighing down the mango boughs, and to smell the highly-scented flowers that hung from the green fretwork of the chambela.

It was spring, I have said. The air was still except when broken by the hum of the large black bramra bee, as he plied his task amidst the red and orange flowers of the dak, and by the gushings of many waters that made music as they coursed down their stuccoed channels between borders of many coloured poppies and beds of various flowers. From time to time the dulcet note of the kokila bird, and the hoarse plaint of the turtle-dove deep hid in her leafy bower, attracted every ear and thrilled every heart. The south wind—“breeze of the south,[145]In Hindustan, it is the prevailing wind of the hot weather. the friend of love and spring” blew with a voluptuous warmth, for rain clouds canopied the earth, and the breath of the narcissus, the rose, and the citron, teemed with a languid fragrance.

The charms of the season affected all the damsels. They amused themselves in their privacy with pelting blossoms at one another, running races down the smooth broad alleys, mounting the silken swings that hung between the orange trees, embracing one another, and at times trying to push the butt of the party into the fishpond. Perhaps the liveliest of all was the lady Chandraprabha, who on account of her rank could pelt and push all the others, without fear of being pelted and pushed in return.

It so happened, before the attendants had had time to secure privacy for the princess and her women, that Manaswi, a very handsome youth, a Brahman’s son, had wandered without malicious intention into the garden. Fatigued with walking, and finding a cool shady place beneath a tree, he had lain down there, and had gone to sleep, and had not been observed by any of the king’s people. He was still sleeping when the princess and her companions were playing together.

Presently Chandraprabha, weary of sport, left her friends, and singing a lively air, tripped up the stairs leading to the summer-house. Aroused by the sound of her advancing footsteps, Manaswi sat up; and the princess, seeing a strange man, started. But their eyes had met, and both were subdued by love—love vulgarly called “love at first sight.”

“Nonsense!” exclaimed the warrior king, testily, “I can never believe in that freak of Kama Deva.” He spoke feelingly, for the thing had happened to himself more than once, and on no occasion had it turned out well.

“But there is such a thing, O Raja, as love at first sight,” objected the Baital, speaking dogmatically.

“Then perhaps thou canst account for it, dead one,” growled the monarch surlily.

“I have no reason to do so, O Vikram,” retorted the Vampire, “when you men have already done it. Listen, then, to the words of the wise. In the olden time, one of your great philosophers invented a fluid pervading all matter, strongly self-repulsive like the steam of a brass pot, and widely spreading like the breath of scandal. The repulsiveness, however, according to that wise man, is greatly modified by its second property, namely, an energetic attraction or adhesion to all material bodies. Thus every substance contains a part, more or less, of this fluid, pervading it throughout, and strongly bound to each component atom. He called it ‘Ambericity,’ for the best of reasons, as it has no connection with amber, and he described it as an imponderable, which, meaning that it could not be weighed, gives a very accurate and satisfactory idea of its nature.

“Now, said that philosopher, whenever two bodies containing that unweighable substance in unequal proportions happen to meet, a current of imponderable passes from one to the other, producing a kind of attraction, and tending to adhere. The operation takes place instantaneously when the force is strong and much condensed. Thus the vulgar who call things after their effects and not from their causes, term the action of this imponderable love at first sight; the wise define it to be a phenomenon of ambericity. As regards my own opinion about the matter, I have long ago told it to you, O Vikram! Silliness—”

“Either hold your tongue, fellow, or go on with your story,” cried the Raja, wearied out by so many words that had no manner of sense.

Well! the effect of the first glance was that Manaswi, the Brahman’s son, fell back in a swoon and remained senseless upon the ground where he had been sitting; and the Raja’s daughter began to tremble upon her feet, and presently dropped unconscious upon the floor of the summer-house. Shortly after this she was found by her companions and attendants, who, quickly taking her up in their arms and supporting her into a litter, conveyed her home.

Manaswi, the Brahman’s son, was so completely overcome, that he lay there dead to everything. Just then the learned, deeply read, and purblind Pandits Muldev and Shashi by name, strayed into the garden, and stumbled upon the body.

“Friend,” said Muldev, “how came this youth thus to fall senseless on the ground?”

“Man,” replied Shashi, “doubtless some damsel has shot forth the arrows of her glances from the bow of her eyebrows, and thence he has become insensible!”

“We must lift him up then,” said Muldev the benevolent.

“What need is there to raise him?” asked Shashi the misanthrope by way of reply.

Muldev, however, would not listen to these words. He ran to the pond hard by, soaked the end of his waistcloth in water, sprinkled it over the young Brahman, raised him from the ground, and placed him sitting against the wall. And perceiving, when he came to himself, that his sickness was rather of the soul than of the body, the old men asked him how he came to be in that plight.

“We should tell our griefs,” answered Manaswi, “only to those who will relieve us! What is the use of communicating them to those who, when they have heard, cannot help us? What is to be gained by the empty pity or by the useless condolence of men in general?”

The Pandits, however, by friendly looks and words, presently persuaded him to break silence, when he said, “A certain princess entered this summer-house, and from the sight of her I have fallen into this state. If I can obtain her, I shall live; if not, I must die.”

“Come with me, young man!” said Muldev the benevolent: “I will use every endeavour to obtain her, and if I do not succeed I will make thee wealthy and independent of the world.”

Manaswi rejoined: “The Deity in his beneficence has created many jewels in this world, but the pearl, woman, is chiefest of all; and for her sake only does man desire wealth. What are riches to one who has abandoned his wife? What are they who do not possess beautiful wives? they are but beings inferior to the beasts! wealth is the fruit of virtue; ease, of wealth; a wife, of ease. And where no wife is, how can there be happiness?” And the enamoured youth rambled on in this way, curious to us, Raja Vikram, but perhaps natural enough in a Brahman’s son suffering under that endemic malady—determination to marry.

“Whatever thou mayest desire,” said Muldev, “shall by the blessing of heaven be given to thee.”

Manaswi implored him, saying most pathetically, “O Pandit, bestow then that damsel upon me!”

Muldev promised to do so, and having comforted the youth, led him to his own house. Then he welcomed him politely, seated him upon the carpet, and left him for a few minutes, promising him to return. When he reappeared, he held in his hand two little balls or pills, and showing them to Manaswi, he explained their virtues as follows:

“There is in our house an hereditary secret, by means of which I try to promote the weal of humanity. But in all cases my success depends mainly upon the purity and the heartwholeness of those that seek my aid. If thou place this in thy mouth, thou shalt be changed into a damsel twelve years old, and when thou withdrawest it again, thou shalt again recover thine original form. Beware, however, that thou use the power for none but a good purpose; otherwise some great calamity will befall thee. Therefore, take counsel of thyself before undertaking this trial!”

What lover, O warrior king Vikram, would have hesitated, under such circumstances, to assure the Pandit that he was the most innocent, earnest, and well-intentioned being in the Three Worlds?

The Brahman’s son, at least, lost no time in so doing. Hence the simple-minded philosopher put one of the pills into the young man’s mouth, warning him on no account to swallow it, and took the other into his own mouth. Upon which Manaswi became a sprightly young maid, and Muldev was changed to a reverend and decrepid senior, not fewer than eighty years old.

Thus transformed, the twain walked up to the palace of the Raja Subichar, and stood for a while to admire the gate. Then passing through seven courts, beautiful as the Paradise of Indra, they entered, unannounced, as became the priestly dignity, a hall where, surrounded by his courtiers, sat the ruler. The latter, seeing the Holy Brahman under his roof, rose up, made the customary humble salutation, and taking their right hands, led what appeared to be the father and daughter to appropriate seats. Upon which Muldev, having recited a verse, bestowed upon the Raja a blessing whose beauty has been diffused over all creation.

“May that Deity[146]Vishnu, as a dwarf, sank down into and secured in the lower regions the Raja Bali, who by his piety and prayerfulness was subverting the reign of the lesser gods; as Ramachandra he built a bridge between Lanka (Ceylon) and the main land; and as Krishna he defended, by holding up a hill as an umbrella for them, his friends the shepherds and shepherdesses from the thunders of Indra, whose worship they had neglected. who as a mannikin deceived the great king Bali; who as a hero, with a monkey-host, bridged the Salt Sea; who as a shepherd lifted up the mountain Gobarddhan in the palm of his hand, and by it saved the cowherds and cowherdesses from the thunders of heaven—may that Deity be thy protector!”

Having heard and marvelled at this display of eloquence, the Raja inquired, “Whence hath your holiness come?”

“My country,” replied Muldev, “is on the northern side of the great mother Ganges, and there too my dwelling is. I travelled to a distant land, and having found in this maiden a worthy wife for my son, I straightway returned homewards. Meanwhile a famine had laid waste our village, and my wife and my son have fled I know not where. Encumbered with this damsel, how can I wander about seeking them? Hearing the name of a pious and generous ruler, I said to myself, ‘I will leave her under his charge until my return.’ Be pleased to take great care of her.”

For a minute the Raja sat thoughtful and silent. He was highly pleased with the Brahman’s perfect compliment. But he could not hide from himself that he was placed between two difficulties: one, the charge of a beautiful young girl, with pouting lips, soft speech, and roguish eyes; the other, a priestly curse upon himself and his kingdom. He thought, however, refusal the more dangerous; so he raised his face and exclaimed, “O produce of Brahma’s head,[147]The priestly caste sprang, as has been said, from the noblest part of the Demiurgus; the three others from lower members. I will do what your highness has desired of me.”

Upon which the Brahman, after delivering a benediction of adieu almost as beautiful and spirit-stirring as that with which he had presented himself, took the betel[148]A chew of betel leaf and spices is offered by the master of the house when dismissing a visitor. and went his ways.

Then the Raja sent for his daughter Chandraprabha and said to her, “This is the affianced bride of a young Brahman, and she has been trusted to my protection for a time by her father-in-law. Take her therefore into the inner rooms, treat her with the utmost regard, and never allow her to be separated from thee, day or night, asleep or awake, eating or drinking, at home or abroad.”

Chandraprabha took the hand of Sita—as Manaswi had pleased to call himself—and led the way to her own apartment. Once the seat of joy and pleasure, the rooms now wore a desolate and melancholy look. The windows were darkened, the attendants moved noiselessly over the carpets, as if their footsteps would cause headache, and there was a faint scent of some drug much used in cases of deliquium. The apartments were handsome, but the only ornament in the room where they sat was a large bunch of withered flowers in an arched recess, and these, though possibly interesting to some one, were not likely to find favour as a decoration in the eyes of everybody.

The Raja’s daughter paid the greatest attention and talked with unusual vivacity to the Brahman’s daughter-in-law, either because she had roguish eyes, or from some presentiment of what was to occur, whichever you please, Raja Vikram, and it is no matter which. Still Sita could not help perceiving that there was a shade of sorrow upon the forehead of her fair new friend, and so when they retired to rest she asked the cause of it.

Then Chandraprabha related to her the sad tale: “One day in the spring season, as I was strolling in the garden along with my companions, I beheld a very handsome Brahman, and our eyes having met, he became unconscious, and I also was insensible. My companions seeing my condition, brought me home, and therefore I know neither his name nor his abode. His beautiful form is impressed upon my memory. I have now no desire to eat or to drink, and from this distress my colour has become pale and my body is thus emaciated.” And the beautiful princess sighed a sigh that was musical and melancholy, and concluded by predicting for herself—as persons similarly placed often do—a sudden and untimely end about the beginning of the next month.

“What wilt thou give me,” asked the Brahman’s daughter-in-law demurely, “if I show thee thy beloved at this very moment?”

The Raja’s daughter answered, “I will ever be the lowest of thy slaves, standing before thee with joined hands.”

Upon which Sita removed the pill from her mouth, and instantly having become Manaswi, put it carefully away in a little bag hung round his neck. At this sight Chandraprabha felt abashed, and hung down her head in beautiful confusion. To describe—

“I will have no descriptions, Vampire!” cried the great Vikram, jerking the bag up and down as if he were sweating gold in it. “The fewer of thy descriptions the better for us all.”

Briefly (resumed the demon), Manaswi reflected upon the eight forms of marriage—viz., Bramhalagan, when a girl is given to a Brahman, or man of superior caste, without reward; Daiva, when she is presented as a gift or fee to the officiating priest at the close of a sacrifice; Arsha, when two cows are received by the girl’s father in exchange for the bride[149]Respectable Hindus say that receiving a fee for a daughter is like selling flesh.; Prajapatya, when the girl is given at the request of a Brahman, and the father says to his daughter and her to betrothed, “Go, fulfil the duties of religion”; Asura, when money is received by the father in exchange for the bride; Rakshasha, when she is captured in war, or when her bridegroom overcomes his rival; Paisacha, when the girl is taken away from her father’s house by craft; and eighthly, Gandharva-lagan, or the marriage that takes place by mutual consent.[150]A modern custom amongst the low caste is for the bride and bridegroom, in the presence of friends, to place a flower garland on each other’s necks, and thus declare themselves man and wife. The old classical Gandharva-lagan has been before explained.

Manaswi preferred the latter, especially as by her rank and age the princess was entitled to call upon her father for the Lakshmi Swayambara wedding, in which she would have chosen her own husband. And thus it is that Rama, Arjuna, Krishna, Nala, and others, were proposed to by the princesses whom they married.

For five months after these nuptials, Manaswi never stirred out of the palace, but remained there by day a woman, and a man by night. The consequence was that he—I call him “he,” for whether Manaswi or Sita, his mind ever remained masculine—presently found himself in a fair way to become a father.

Now, one would imagine that a change of sex every twenty-four hours would be variety enough to satisfy even a man. Manaswi, however, was not contented. He began to pine for more liberty, and to find fault with his wife for not taking him out into the world. And you might have supposed that a young person who, from love at first sight, had fallen senseless upon the steps of a summer-house, and who had devoted herself to a sudden and untimely end because she was separated from her lover, would have repressed her yawns and little irritable words even for a year after having converted him into a husband. But no! Chandraprabha soon felt as tired of seeing Manaswi and nothing but Manaswi, as Manaswi was weary of seeing Chandraprabha and nothing but Chandraprabha. Often she had been on the point of proposing visits and out-of-door excursions. But when at last the idea was first suggested by her husband, she at once became an injured woman. She hinted how foolish it was for married people to imprison themselves and to quarrel all day. When Manaswi remonstrated, saying that he wanted nothing better than to appear before the world with her as his wife, but that he really did not know what her father might do to him, she threw out a cutting sarcasm upon his effeminate appearance during the hours of light. She then told him of an unfortunate young woman in an old nursery tale who had unconsciously married a fiend that became a fine handsome man at night when no eye could see him, and utter ugliness by day when good looks show to advantage. And lastly, when inveighing against the changeableness, fickleness, and infidelity of mankind, she quoted the words of the poet—

Out upon change! it tires the heart
And weighs the noble spirit down;
A vain, vain world indeed thou art
That can such vile condition own
The veil hath fallen from my eyes,
I cannot love where I despise….

You can easily, O King Vikram, continue for yourself and conclude this lecture, which I leave unfinished on account of its length.

Chandraprabha and Sita, who called each other the Zodiacal Twins and Laughter Light,[151]Meaning that the sight of each other will cause a smile, and that what one purposes the other will consent to. and All-consenters, easily persuaded the old Raja that their health would be further improved by air, exercise, and distractions. Subichar, being delighted with the change that had taken place in a daughter whom he loved, and whom he had feared to lose, told them to do as they pleased. They began a new life, in which short trips and visits, baths and dances, music parties, drives in bullock chariots, and water excursions succeeded one another.

It so happened that one day the Raja went with his whole family to a wedding feast in the house of his grand treasurer, where the latter’s son saw Manaswi in the beautiful shape of Sita. This was a third case of love at first sight, for the young man immediately said to a particular friend, “If I obtain that girl, I shall live; if not, I shall abandon life.”

In the meantime the king, having enjoyed the feast, came back to his palace with his whole family. The condition of the treasurer’s son, however, became very distressing; and through separation from his beloved, he gave up eating and drinking. The particular friend had kept the secret for some days, though burning to tell it. At length he found an excuse for himself in the sad state of his friend, and he immediately went and divulged all that he knew to the treasurer. After this he felt relieved.

The minister repaired to the court, and laid his case before the king, saying, “Great Raja! through the love of that Brahman’s daughter-in-law, my son’s state is very bad; he has given up eating and drinking; in fact he is consumed by the fire of separation. If now your majesty could show compassion, and bestow the girl upon him, his life would be saved. If not——”

“Fool!” cried the Raja, who, hearing these words, had waxed very wroth; “it is not right for kings to do injustice. Listen! when a person puts any one in charge of a protector, how can the latter give away his trust without consulting the person that trusted him? And yet this is what you wish me to do.”

The treasurer knew that the Raja could not govern his realm without him, and he was well acquainted with his master’s character. He said to himself, “This will not last long;” but he remained dumb, simulating hopelessness, and hanging down his head, whilst Subichar alternately scolded and coaxed, abused and flattered him, in order to open his lips. Then, with tears in his eyes, he muttered a request to take leave; and as he passed through the palace gates, he said aloud, with a resolute air, “It will cost me but ten days of fasting!”

The treasurer, having returned home, collected all his attendants, and went straightway to his son’s room. Seeing the youth still stretched upon his sleeping-mat, and very yellow for the want of food, he took his hand, and said in a whisper, meant to be audible, “Alas! poor son, I can do nothing but perish with thee.”

The servants, hearing this threat, slipped one by one out of the room, and each went to tell his friend that the grand treasurer had resolved to live no longer. After which, they went back to the house to see if their master intended to keep his word, and curious to know, if he did intend to die, how, where, and when it was to be. And they were not disappointed: I do not mean that the wished their lord to die, as he was a good master to them but still there was an excitement in the thing——

(Raja Vikram could not refrain from showing his anger at the insult thus cast by the Baital upon human nature; the wretch, however, pretending not to notice it, went on without interrupting himself)

——which somehow or other pleased them.

When the treasurer had spent three days without touching bread or water, all the cabinet council met and determined to retire from business unless the Raja yielded to their solicitations. The treasurer was their working man. “Besides which,” said the cabinet council, “if a certain person gets into the habit of refusing us, what is to be the end of it, and what is the use of being cabinet councillors any longer?”

Early on the next morning, the ministers went in a body before the Raja, and humbly represented that “the treasurer’s son is at the point of death, the effect of a full heart and an empty stomach. Should he die, the father, who has not eaten or drunk during the last three days” (the Raja trembled to hear the intelligence, though he knew it), “his father, we say, cannot be saved. If the father dies the affairs of the kingdom come to ruin,—is he not the grand treasurer? It is already said that half the accounts have been gnawed by white ants, and that some pernicious substance in the ink has eaten jagged holes through the paper, so that the other half of the accounts is illegible. It were best, sire, that you agree to what we represent.”

The white ants and corrosive ink were too strong for the Raja’s determination. Still, wishing to save appearances, he replied, with much firmness, that he knew the value of the treasurer and his son, that he would do much to save them, but that he had passed his royal word, and had undertaken a trust. That he would rather die a dozen deaths than break his promise, or not discharge his duty faithfully. That man’s condition in this world is to depart from it, none remaining in it; that one comes and that one goes, none knowing when or where; but that eternity is eternity for happiness or misery. And much of the same nature, not very novel, and not perhaps quite to the purpose, but edifying to those who knew what lay behind the speaker’s words.

The ministers did not know their lord’s character so well as the grand treasurer, and they were more impressed by his firm demeanour and the number of his words than he wished them to be. After allowing his speech to settle in their minds, he did away with a great part of its effect by declaring that such were the sentiments and the principles—when a man talks of his principles, O Vikram! ask thyself the reason why—instilled into his youthful mind by the most honourable of fathers and the most virtuous of mothers. At the same time that he was by no means obstinate or proof against conviction. In token whereof he graciously permitted the councillors to convince him that it was his royal duty to break his word and betray his trust, and to give away another man’s wife.

Pray do not lose your temper, O warrior king! Subichar, although a Raja, was a weak man; and you know, or you ought to know, that the wicked may be wise in their generation, but the weak never can.

Well, the ministers hearing their lord’s last words, took courage, and proceeded to work upon his mind by the figure of speech popularly called “rigmarole.” They said: “Great king! that old Brahman has been gone many days, and has not returned; he is probably dead and burnt. It is therefore right that by giving to the grand treasurer’s son his daughter-in-law, who is only affianced, not fairly married, you should establish your government firmly. And even if he should return, bestow villages and wealth upon him; and if he be not then content, provide another and a more beautiful wife for his son, and dismiss him. A person should be sacrificed for the sake of a family, a family for a city, a city for a country, and a country for a king!”

Subichar having heard them, dismissed them with the remark that as so much was to be said on both sides, he must employ the night in thinking over the matter, and that he would on the next day favour them with his decision. The cabinet councillors knew by this that he meant that he would go and consult his wives. They retired contented, convinced that every voice would be in favour of a wedding, and that the young girl, with so good an offer, would not sacrifice the present to the future.

That evening the treasurer and his son supped together.

The first words uttered by Raja Subichar, when he entered his daughter’s apartment, were an order addressed to Sita: “Go thou at once to the house of my treasurer’s son.”

Now, as Chandraprabha and Manaswi were generally scolding each other, Chandraprabha and Sita were hardly on speaking terms. When they heard the Raja’s order for their separation they were—

—“Delighted?” cried Dharma Dhwaj, who for some reason took the greatest interest in the narrative.

“Overwhelmed with grief, thou most guileless Yuva Raja (young prince)!” ejaculated the Vampire.

Raja Vikram reproved his son for talking about thing of which he knew nothing, and the Baital resumed.

They turned pale and wept, and they wrung their hands, and they begged and argued and refused obedience. In fact they did everything to make the king revoke his order.

“The virtue of a woman,” quoth Sita, “is destroyed through too much beauty; the religion of a Brahman is impaired by serving kings; a cow is spoiled by distant pasturage, wealth is lost by committing injustice, and prosperity departs from the house where promises are not kept.”

The Raja highly applauded the sentiment, but was firm as a rock upon the subject of Sita marrying the treasurer’s son.

Chandraprabha observed that her royal father, usually so conscientious, must now be acting from interested motives, and that when selfishness sways a man, right becomes left and left becomes right, as in the reflection of a mirror.

Subichar approved of the comparison; he was not quite so resolved, but he showed no symptoms of changing his mind.

Then the Brahman’s daughter-in-law, with the view of gaining time—a famous stratagem amongst feminines—said to the Raja: “Great king, if you are determined upon giving me to the grand treasurer’s son, exact from him the promise that he will do what I bid him. Only on this condition will I ever enter his house!”

“Speak, then,” asked the king; “what will he have to do?”

She replied, “I am of the Brahman or priestly caste, he is the son of a Kshatriya or warrior: the law directs that before we twain can wed, he should perform Yatra (pilgrimage) to all the holy places.”

“Thou hast spoken Veda-truth, girl,” answered the Raja, not sorry to have found so good a pretext for temporizing, and at the same time to preserve his character for firmness, resolution, determination.

That night Manaswi and Chandraprabha, instead of scolding each other, congratulated themselves upon having escaped an imminent danger—which they did not escape.

In the morning Subichar sent for his ministers, including his grand treasurer and his love-sick son, and told them how well and wisely the Brahman’s daughter-in-law had spoken upon the subject of the marriage. All of them approved of the condition; but the young man ventured to suggest, that while he was a-pilgrimaging the maiden should reside under his father’s roof. As he and his father showed a disposition to continue their fasts in case of the small favour not being granted, the Raja, though very loath to separate his beloved daughter and her dear friend, was driven to do it. And Sita was carried off, weeping bitterly, to the treasurer’s palace. That dignitary solemnly committed her to the charge of his third and youngest wife, the lady Subhagya-Sundari, who was about her own age, and said, “You must both live together, without any kind of wrangling or contention, and do not go into other people’s houses.” And the grand treasurer’s son went off to perform his pilgrimages.

It is no less sad than true, Raja Vikram, that in less than six days the disconsolate Sita waxed weary of being Sita, took the ball out of her mouth, and became Manaswi. Alas for the infidelity of mankind! But it is gratifying to reflect that he met with the punishment with which the Pandit Muldev had threatened him. One night the magic pill slipped down his throat. When morning dawned, being unable to change himself into Sita, Manaswi was obliged to escape through a window from the lady Subhagya-Sundari’s room. He sprained his ankle with the leap, and he lay for a time upon the ground—where I leave him whilst convenient to me.

When Muldev quitted the presence of Subichar, he resumed his old shape, and returning to his brother Pandit Shashi, told him what he had done. Whereupon Shashi, the misanthrope, looked black, and used hard words and told his friend that good nature and soft-heartedness had caused him to commit a very bad action—a grievous sin. Incensed at this charge, the philanthropic Muldev became angry, and said, “I have warned the youth about his purity; what harm can come of it?”

“Thou hast,” retorted Shashi, with irritating coolness, “placed a sharp weapon in a fool’s hand.”

“I have not,” cried Muldev, indignantly.

“Therefore,” drawled the malevolent, “you are answerable for all the mischief he does with it, and mischief assuredly he will do.”

“He will not, by Brahma!” exclaimed Muldev.

“He will, by Vishnu!” said Shashi, with an amiability produced by having completely upset his friend’s temper; “and if within the coming six months he does not disgrace himself, thou shalt have the whole of my book-case; but if he does, the philanthropic Muldev will use all his skill and ingenuity in procuring the daughter of Raja Subichar as a wife for his faithful friend Shashi.”

Having made this covenant, they both agreed not to speak of the matter till the autumn.

The appointed time drawing near, the Pandits began to make inquiries about the effect of the magic pills. Presently they found out that Sita, alias Manaswi, had one night mysteriously disappeared from the grand treasurer’s house, and had not been heard of since that time. This, together with certain other things that transpired presently, convinced Muldev, who had cooled down in six months, that his friend had won the wager. He prepared to make honourable payment by handing a pill to old Shashi, who at once became a stout, handsome young Brahman, some twenty years old. Next putting a pill into his own mouth, he resumed the shape and form under which he had first appeared before Raja Subichar; and, leaning upon his staff, he led the way to the palace.

The king, in great confusion, at once recognized the old priest, and guessed the errand upon which he and the youth were come. However, he saluted them, and offered them seats, and receiving their blessings, he began to make inquiries about their health and welfare. At last he mustered courage to ask the old Brahman where he had been living for so long a time.

“Great king,” replied the priest, “I went to seek after my son, and having found him, I bring him to your majesty. Give him his wife, and I will take them both home with me.”

Raja Subichar prevaricated not a little; but presently, being hard pushed, he related everything that had happened.

“What is this that you have done?” cried Muldev, simulating excessive anger and astonishment. “Why have you given my son’s wife in marriage to another man? You have done what you wished, and now, therefore, receive my Shrap (curse)!”

The poor Raja, in great trepidation, said, “O Vivinity! be not thus angry! I will do whatever you bid me.”

Said Muldev, “If through dread of my excommunication you will freely give whatever I demand of you, then marry your daughter, Chandraprabha, to this my son. On this condition I forgive you. To me, now a necklace of pearls and a venomous krishna (cobra capella); the most powerful enemy and the kindest friend, the most precious gem and a clod of earth; the softest bed and the hardest stone; a blade of grass and the loveliest woman—are precisely the same. All I desire is that in some holy place, repeating the name of God, I may soon end my days.”

Subichar, terrified by this additional show of sanctity, at once summoned an astrologer, and fixed upon the auspicious moment and lunar influence. He did not consult the princess, and had he done so she would not have resisted his wishes. Chandraprabha had heard of Sita’s escape from the treasurer’s house, and she had on the subject her own suspicions. Besides which she looked forward to a certain event, and she was by no means sure that her royal father approved of the Gandharba form of marriage—at least for his daughter. Thus the Brahman’s son receiving in due time the princess and her dowry, took leave of the king and returned to his own village.

Hardly, however, had Chandraprabha been married to Shashi the Pandit, when Manaswi went to him, and began to wrangle, and said, “Give me my wife!” He had recovered from the effects of his fall, and having lost her he therefore loved her—very dearly.

But Shashi proved by reference to the astrologers, priests, and ten persons as witnesses, that he had duly wedded her, and brought her to his home; “therefore,” said he, “she is my spouse.”

Manaswi swore by all holy things that he had been legally married to her, and that he was the father of her child that was about to be. “How then,” continued he, “can she be thy spouse?” He would have summoned Muldev as a witness, but that worthy, after remonstrating with him, disappeared. He called upon Chandraprabha to confirm his statement, but she put on an innocent face, and indignantly denied ever having seen the man.

Still, continued the Baital, many people believed Manaswi’s story, as it was marvellous and incredible. Even to the present day, there are many who decidedly think him legally married to the daughter of Raja Subichar.

“Then they are pestilent fellows!” cried the warrior king Vikram, who hated nothing more than clandestine and runaway matches. “No one knew that the villain, Manaswi, was the father of her child; whereas, the Pandit Shashi married her lawfully, before witnesses, and with all the ceremonies.[152]This would be the verdict of a Hindu jury. She therefore remains his wife, and the child will perform the funeral obsequies for him, and offer water to the manes of his pitris (ancestors). At least, so say law and justice.”

“Which justice is often unjust enough!” cried the Vampire; “and ply thy legs, mighty Raja; let me see if thou canst reach the sires-tree before I do.”

“The next story, O Raja Vikram, is remarkably interesting.”

Far and wide through the lovely land overrun by the Arya from the Western Highlands spread the fame of Unmadini, the beautiful daughter of Haridas the Brahman. In the numberless odes, sonnets, and acrostics addressed to her by a hundred Pandits and poets her charms were sung with prodigious triteness. Her presence was compared to light shining in a dark house; her face to the full moon; her complexion to the yellow champaka flower; her curls to female snakes; her eyes to those of the deer; her eyebrows to bent bows; her teeth to strings of little opals; her feet to rubies and red gems,[153]Because stained with the powder of Mhendi, or the Lawsonia inermis shrub. and her gait to that of the wild goose. And none forgot to say that her voice affected the author like the song of the kokila bird, sounding from the shadowy brake, when the breeze blows coolly, or that the fairy beings of Indra’s heaven would have shrunk away abashed at her loveliness.

But, Raja Vikram! all the poets failed to win the fair Unmadini’s love. To praise the beauty of a beauty is not to praise her. Extol her wit and talents, which has the zest of novelty, then you may succeed. For the same reason, read inversely, the plainer and cleverer is the bosom you would fire, the more personal you must be upon the subject of its grace and loveliness. Flattery you know, is ever the match which kindles the Flame of love. True it is that some by roughness of demeanour and bluntness in speech, contrasting with those whom they call the “herd,” have the art to succeed in the service of the bodyless god.[154]Kansa’s son: so called because the god Shiva, when struck by his shafts, destroyed him with a fiery glance. But even they must—

The young prince Dharma Dhwaj could not help laughing at the thought of how this must sound in his father’s ear. And the Raja hearing the ill-timed merriment, sternly ordered the Baital to cease his immoralities and to continue his story.

Thus the lovely Unmadini, conceiving an extreme contempt for poets and literati, one day told her father who greatly loved her, that her husband must be a fine young man who never wrote verses. Withal she insisted strongly on mental qualities and science, being a person of moderate mind and an adorer of talent—when not perverted to poetry.

As you may imagine, Raja Vikram, all the beauty’s bosom friends, seeing her refuse so many good offers, confidently predicted that she would pass through the jungle and content herself with a bad stick, or that she would lead ring-tailed apes in Patala.

At length when some time had elapsed, four suitors appeared from four different countries, all of them claiming equal excellence in youth and beauty, strength and understanding. And after paying their respects to Haridas, and telling him their wishes, they were directed to come early on the next morning and to enter upon the first ordeal—an intellectual conversation.

他们做到了。

“Foolish the man,” quoth the young Mahasani, “that seeks permanence in this world—frail as the stem of the plantain-tree, transient as the ocean foam.

“All that is high shall presently fall; all that is low must finally perish.

“Unwillingly do the manes of the dead taste the tears shed by their kinsmen: then wail not, but perform the funeral obsequies with diligence.”

“What ill-omened fellow is this?” quoth the fair Unmadini, who was sitting behind her curtain; “besides, he has dared to quote poetry!” There was little chance of success for that suitor.

“She is called a good woman, and a woman of pure descent,” quoth the second suitor, “who serves him to whom her father and mother have given her; and it is written in the scriptures that a woman who in the lifetime of her husband, becoming a devotee, engages in fasting, and in austere devotion, shortens his days, and hereafter falls into the fire. For it is said—

“A woman’s bliss is found not in the smile
Of father, mother, friend, nor in herself;
Her husband is her only portion here,
Her heaven hereafter.”

The word “serve,” which might mean “obey,” was peculiarly disagreeable to the fair one’s ears, and she did not admire the check so soon placed upon her devotion, or the decided language and manner of the youth. She therefore mentally resolved never again to see that person, whom she determined to be stupid as an elephant.

“A mother,” said Gunakar, the third candidate, “protects her son in babyhood, and a father when his offspring is growing up. But the man of warrior descent defends his brethren at all times. Such is the custom of the world, and such is my state. I dwell on the heads of the strong!”

Therefore those assembled together looked with great respect upon the man of valour.

Devasharma, the fourth suitor, contented himself with listening to the others, who fancied that he was overawed by their cleverness. And when it came to his turn he simply remarked, “Silence is better than speech.” Being further pressed, he said, “A wise man will not proclaim his age, nor a deception practiced upon himself, nor his riches, nor the loss of riches, nor family faults, nor incantations, nor conjugal love, nor medicinal prescriptions, nor religious duties, nor gifts, nor reproach, nor the infidelity of his wife.”

Thus ended the first trial. The master of the house dismissed the two former speakers, with many polite expressions and some trifling presents. Then having given betel to them, scented their garments with attar, and sprinkled rose-water over their heads, he accompanied them to the door, showing much regret. The two latter speakers he begged to come on the next day.

Gunakar and Devasharma did not fail. When they entered the assembly-room and took the seats pointed out to them, the father said, “Be ye pleased to explain and make manifest the effects of your mental qualities. So shall I judge of them.”

“I have made,” said Gunakar, “a four-wheeled carriage, in which the power resides to carry you in a moment wherever you may purpose to go.”

“I have such power over the angel of death,” said Devasharma, “that I can at all times raise a corpse, and enable my friends to do the same.”

Now tell me by thy brains, O warrior King Vikram, which of these two youths was the fitter husband for the maid?

Either the Raja could not answer the question, or perhaps he would not, being determined to break the spell which had already kept him walking to and fro for so many hours. Then the Baital, who had paused to let his royal carrier commit himself, seeing that the attempt had failed, proceeded without making any further comment.

The beautiful Unmadini was brought out, but she hung down her head and made no reply. Yet she took care to move both her eyes in the direction of Devasharma. Whereupon Haridas, quoting the proverb that “pearls string with pearls,” formally betrothed to him his daughter. The soldier suitor twisted the ends of his mustachios into his eyes, which were red with wrath, and fumbled with his fingers about the hilt of his sword. But he was a man of noble birth, and presently his anger passed away.

Mahasani the poet, however, being a shameless person—and when can we be safe from such?—forced himself into the assembly and began to rage and to storm, and to quote proverbs in a loud tone of voice. He remarked that in this world women are a mine of grief, a poisonous root, the abode of solicitude, the destroyers of resolution, the occasioners of fascination, and the plunderers of all virtuous qualities. From the daughter he passed to the father, and after saying hard things of him as a “Maha-Brahman,”[155]“Great Brahman”; used contemptuously to priests who officiate for servile men. Brahmans lose their honour by the following things: By becoming servants to the king; by pursuing any secular business; by acting priests to Shudras (serviles); by officiating as priests for a whole village; and by neglecting any part of the three daily services. Many violate these rules; yet to kill a Brahman is still one of the five great Hindu sins. In the present age of the world, the Brahman may not accept a gift of cows or of gold; of course he despises the law. As regards monkey worship, a certain Rajah of Nadiya is said to have expended 10,000L in marrying two monkeys with all the parade and splendour of the Hindu rite. who took cows and gold and worshipped a monkey, he fell with a sweeping censure upon all priests and sons of priests, more especially Devasharma. As the bystanders remonstrated with him, he became more violent, and when Haridas, who was a weak man, appeared terrified by his voice, look, and gesture, he swore a solemn oath that despite all the betrothals in the world, unless Unmadini became his wife he would commit suicide, and as a demon haunt the house and injure the inmates.

Gunakar the soldier exhorted this shameless poet to slay himself at once, and to go where he pleased. But as Haridas reproved the warrior for inhumanity, Mahasani nerved by spite, love, rage, and perversity to an heroic death, drew a noose from his bosom, rushed out of the house, and suspended himself to the nearest tree.

And, true enough, as the midnight gong struck, he appeared in the form of a gigantic and malignant Rakshasa (fiend), dreadfully frightened the household of Haridas, and carried off the lovely Unmadini, leaving word that she was to be found on the topmost peak of Himalaya.

The unhappy father hastened to the house where Devasharma lived. There, weeping bitterly and wringing his hands in despair, he told the terrible tale, and besought his intended son-in-law to be up and doing.

The young Brahman at once sought his late rival, and asked his aid. This the soldier granted at once, although he had been nettled at being conquered in love by a priestling.

The carriage was at once made ready, and the suitors set out, bidding the father be of good cheer, and that before sunset he should embrace his daughter. They then entered the vehicle; Gunakar with cabalistic words caused it to rise high in the air, and Devasharma put to flight the demon by reciting the sacred verse,[156]The celebrated Gayatri, the Moslem Kalmah. “Let us meditate on the supreme splendour (or adorable light) of that Divine Ruler (the sun) who may illuminate our understandings. Venerable men, guided by the intelligence, salute the divine sun (Sarvitri) with oblations and praise. Om!”

Then they returned with the girl to the house, and Haridas blessed them, praising the sun aloud in the joy of his heart. Lest other accidents might happen, he chose an auspicious planetary conjunction, and at a fortunate moment rubbed turmeric upon his daughter’s hands.

The wedding was splendid, and broke the hearts of twenty-four rivals. In due time Devasharma asked leave from his father-in-law to revisit his home, and to carry with him his bride. This request being granted, he set out accompanied by Gunakar the soldier, who swore not to leave the couple before seeing them safe under their own roof-tree.

It so happened that their road lay over the summits of the wild Vindhya hills, where dangers of all kinds are as thick as shells upon the shore of the deep. Here were rocks and jagged precipices making the traveller’s brain whirl when he looked into them. There impetuous torrents roared and flashed down their beds of black stone, threatening destruction to those who would cross them. Now the path was lost in the matted thorny underwood and the pitchy shades of the jungle, deep and dark as the valley of death. Then the thunder-cloud licked the earth with its fiery tongue, and its voice shook the crags and filled their hollow caves. At times, the sun was so hot, that wild birds fell dead from the air. And at every moment the wayfarers heard the trumpeting of giant elephants, the fierce howling of the tiger, the grisly laugh of the foul hyaena, and the whimpering of the wild dogs as they coursed by on the tracks of their prey.

Yet, sustained by the five-armed god[157]Kama again. the little party passed safely through all these dangers. They had almost emerged from the damp glooms of the forest into the open plains which skirt the southern base of the hills, when one night the fair Unmadini saw a terrible vision.

She beheld herself wading through a sluggish pool of muddy water, which rippled, curdling as she stepped into it, and which, as she advanced, darkened with the slime raised by her feet. She was bearing in her arms the semblance of a sick child, which struggled convulsively and filled the air with dismal wails. These cries seemed to be answered by a multitude of other children, some bloated like toads, others mere skeletons lying upon the bank, or floating upon the thick brown waters of the pond. And all seemed to address their cries to her, as if she were the cause of their weeping; nor could all her efforts quiet or console them for a moment.

When the bride awoke, she related all the particulars of her ill-omened vision to her husband; and the latter, after a short pause, informed her and his friend that a terrible calamity was about to befall them. He then drew from his travelling wallet a skein of thread. This he divided into three parts, one for each, and told his companions that in case of grievous bodily injury, the bit of thread wound round the wounded part would instantly make it whole. After which he taught them the Mantra,[158]From “Man,” to think; primarily meaning, what makes man think. or mystical word by which the lives of men are restored to their bodies, even when they have taken their allotted places amongst the stars, and which for evident reasons I do not want to repeat. It concluded, however, with the three Vyahritis, or sacred syllables—Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svar!

Raja Vikram was perhaps a little disappointed by this declaration. He made no remark, however, and the Baital thus pursued:

As Devasharma foretold, an accident of a terrible nature did occur. On the evening of that day, as they emerged upon the plain, they were attacked by the Kiratas, or savage tribes of the mountain.[159]The Cirrhadae of classical writers. A small, black, wiry figure, armed with a bow and little cane arrows, stood in their way, signifying by gestures that they must halt and lay down their arms. As they continued to advance, he began to speak with a shrill chattering, like the note of an affrighted bird, his restless red eyes glared with rage, and he waved his weapon furiously round his head. Then from the rocks and thickets on both sides of the path poured a shower of shafts upon the three strangers.

The unequal combat did not last long. Gunakar, the soldier, wielded his strong right arm with fatal effect and struck down some threescore of the foes. But new swarms came on like angry hornets buzzing round the destroyer of their nests. And when he fell, Devasharma, who had left him for a moment to hide his beautiful wife in the hollow of a tree, returned, and stood fighting over the body of his friend till he also, overpowered by numbers, was thrown to the ground. Then the wild men, drawing their knives, cut off the heads of their helpless enemies, stripped their bodies of all their ornaments, and departed, leaving the woman unharmed for good luck.

When Unmadini, who had been more dead than alive during the affray, found silence succeed to the horrid din of shrieks and shouts, she ventured to creep out of her refuge in the hollow tree. And what does she behold? her husband and his friend are lying upon the ground, with their heads at a short distance from their bodies. She sat down and wept bitterly.

Presently, remembering the lesson which she had learned that very morning, she drew forth from her bosom the bit of thread and proceeded to use it. She approached the heads to the bodies, and tied some of the magic string round each neck. But the shades of evening were fast deepening, and in her agitation, confusion and terror, she made a curious mistake by applying the heads to the wrong trunks. After which, she again sat down, and having recited her prayers, she pronounced, as her husband had taught her, the life-giving incantation.

In a moment the dead men were made alive. They opened their eyes, shook themselves, sat up and handled their limbs as if to feel that all was right. But something or other appeared to them all wrong. They placed their palms upon their foreheads, and looked downwards, and started to their feet and began to stare at their hands and legs. Upon which they scrutinized the very scanty articles of dress which the wild men had left upon them, and lastly one began to eye the other with curious puzzled looks.

The wife, attributing their gestures to the confusion which one might expect to find in the brains of men who have just undergone so great a trial as amputation of the head must be, stood before them for a moment or two. She then with a cry of gladness flew to the bosom of the individual who was, as she supposed, her husband. He repulsed her, telling her that she was mistaken. Then, blushing deeply in spite of her other emotions, she threw both her beautiful arms round the neck of the person who must be, she naturally concluded, the right man. To her utter confusion, he also shrank back from her embrace.

Then a horrid thought flashed across her mind: she perceived her fatal mistake, and her heart almost ceased to beat.

“This is thy wife!” cried the Brahman’s head that had been fastened to the soldier’s body.

“No; she is thy wife!” replied the soldier’s head which had been placed upon the Brahman’s body.

“Then she is my wife!” rejoined the first compound creature.

“By no means! she is my wife,” cried the second.

“What then am I?” asked Devasharma-Gunakar.

“What do you think I am?” answered Gunakar-Devasharma, with another question.

“Unmadini shall be mine,” quoth the head.

“You lie, she shall be mine,” shouted the body.

“Holy Yama,[160]The Hindu Pluto; also called the Just King. hear the villain,” exclaimed both of them at the same moment.

In short, having thus begun, they continued to quarrel violently, each one declaring that the beautiful Unmadini belonged to him, and to him only. How to settle their dispute Brahma the Lord of creatures only knows. I do not, except by cutting off their heads once more, and by putting them in their proper places. And I am quite sure, O Raja Vikram! that thy wits are quite unfit to answer the question, To which of these two is the beautiful Unmadini wife? It is even said—amongst us Baitals—that when this pair of half-husbands appeared in the presence of the Just King, a terrible confusion arose, each head declaiming all the sins and peccadilloes which its body had committed, and that Yama the holy ruler himself hit his forefinger with vexation.[161]Yama judges the dead, whose souls go to him in four hours and forty minutes; therefore a corpse cannot be burned till after that time. His residence is Yamalaya, and it is on the south side of the earth; down South, as we say. (I, Sam. xxv. 1, and xxx. 15). The Hebrews, like the Hindus, held the northern parts of the world to be higher than the southern. Hindus often joke a man who is seen walking in that direction, and ask him where he is going.

Here the young prince Dharma Dhwaj burst out laughing at the ridiculous idea of the wrong heads. And the warrior king, who, like single-minded fathers in general, was ever in the idea that his son had a velleity for deriding and otherwise vexing him, began a severe course of reproof. He reminded the prince of the common saying that merriment without cause degrades a man in the opinion of his fellows, and indulged him with a quotation extensively used by grave fathers, namely, that the loud laugh bespeaks a vacant mind. After which he proceeded with much pompousness to pronounce the following opinion:

“It is said in the Shastras——”

“Your majesty need hardly display so much erudition! Doubtless it comes from the lips of Jayudeva or some other one of your Nine Gems of Science, who know much more about their songs and their stanzas than they do about their scriptures,” insolently interrupted the Baital, who never lost an opportunity of carping at those reverend men.

“It is said in the Shastras,” continued Raja Vikram sternly, after hesitating whether he should or should not administer a corporeal correction to the Vampire, “that Mother Ganga[162]The “Ganges,” in heaven called Mandakini. I have no idea why we still adhere to our venerable corruption of the word. is the queen amongst rivers, and the mountain Sumeru[163]The fabulous mountain supposed by Hindu geographers to occupy the centre of the universe. is the monarch among mountains, and the tree Kalpavriksha[164]The all-bestowing tree in Indra’s Paradise which grants everything asked of it. It is the Tuba of Al-Islam and is not unknown to the Apocryphal New Testament. is the king of all trees, and the head of man is the best and most excellent of limbs. And thus, according to this reason, the wife belonged to him whose noblest position claimed her.”

“The next thing your majesty will do, I suppose,” continued the Baital, with a sneer, “is to support the opinions of the Digambara, who maintains that the soul is exceedingly rarefied, confined to one place, and of equal dimensions with the body, or the fancies of that worthy philosopher Jaimani, who, conceiving soul and mind and matter to be things purely synonymous, asserts outwardly and writes in his books that the brain is the organ of the mind which is acted upon by the immortal soul, but who inwardly and verily believes that the brain is the mind, and consequently that the brain is the soul or spirit or whatever you please to call it; in fact, that soul is a natural faculty of the body. A pretty doctrine, indeed, for a Brahman to hold. You might as well agree with me at once that the soul of man resides, when at home, either in a vein in the breast, or in the pit of his stomach, or that half of it is in a man’s brain and the other or reasoning half is in his heart, an organ of his body.”

“What has all this string of words to do with the matter, Vampire?” asked Raja Vikram angrily.

“Only,” said the demon laughing, “that in my opinion, as opposed to the Shastras and to Raja Vikram, that the beautiful Unmadini belonged, not to the head part but to the body part. Because the latter has an immortal soul in the pit of its stomach, whereas the former is a box of bone, more or less thick, and contains brains which are of much the same consistence as those of a calf.”

“Villain!” exclaimed the Raja, “does not the soul or conscious life enter the body through the sagittal suture and lodge in the brain, thence to contemplate, through the same opening, the divine perfections?”

“I must, however, bid you farewell for the moment, O warrior king, Sakadhipati-Vikramadityal[165]“Vikramaditya, Lord of the Saka.” This is prevoyance on the part of the Vampire; the king had not acquired the title.! I feel a sudden and ardent desire to change this cramped position for one more natural to me.”

The warrior monarch had so far committed himself that he could not prevent the Vampire from flitting. But he lost no more time in following him than a grain of mustard, in its fall, stays on a cow’s horn. And when he had thrown him over his shoulder, the king desired him of his own accord to begin a new tale.

“O my left eyelid flutters,” exclaimed the Baital in despair, “my heart throbs, my sight is dim: surely now beginneth the end. It is as Vidhata hath written on my forehead—how can it be otherwise[166]On the sixth day after the child’s birth, the god Vidhata writes all its fate upon its forehead. The Moslems have a similar idea, and probably it passed to the Hindus.? Still listen, O mighty Raja, whilst I recount to you a true story, and Saraswati[167]Goddess of eloquence. “The waters of the Saraswati” is the classical Hindu phrase for the mirage. sit on my tongue.”

The Baital said, O king, in the Gaur country, Vardhman by name, there is a city, and one called Gunshekhar was the Raja of that land. His minister was one Abhaichand, a Jain, by whose teachings the king also came into the Jain faith.

The worship of Shiva and of Vishnu, gifts of cows, gifts of lands, gifts of rice balls, gaming and spirit-drinking, all these he prohibited. In the city no man could get leave to do them, and as for bones, into the Ganges no man was allowed to throw them, and in these matters the minister, having taken orders from the king, caused a proclamation to be made about the city, saying, “Whoever these acts shall do, the Raja having confiscated, will punish him and banish him from the city.”

Now one day the Diwan[169]A minister. The word, as is the case with many in this collection, is quite modern Moslem, and anachronistic. began to say to the Raja, “O great king, to the decisions of the Faith be pleased to give ear. Whosoever takes the life of another, his life also in the future birth is taken: this very sin causes him to be born again and again upon earth and to die And thus he ever continues to be born again and to die. Hence for one who has found entrance into this world to cultivate religion is right and proper. Be pleased to behold! By love, by wrath, by pain, by desire, and by fascination overpowered, the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahadeva (Shiva) in various ways upon the earth are ever becoming incarnate. Far better than they is the Cow, who is free from passion, enmity, drunkenness, anger, covetousness, and inordinate affection, who supports mankind, and whose progeny in many ways give ease and solace to the creatures of the world These deities and sages (munis) believe in the Cow.[170]The cow is called the mother of the gods, and is declared by Brahma, the first person of the triad, Vishnu and Shiva being the second and the third, to be a proper object of worship. “If a European speak to the Hindu about eating the flesh of cows,” says an old missionary, “they immediately raise their hands to their ears; yet milkmen, carmen, and farmers beat the cow as unmercifully as a carrier of coals beats his ass in England.” The Jains or Jainas (from ji, to conquer; as subduing the passions) are one of the atheistical sects with whom the Brahmans have of old carried on the fiercest religious controversies, ending in many a sanguinary fight. Their tenets are consequently exaggerated and ridiculed, as in the text. They believe that there is no such God as the common notions on the subject point out, and they hold that the highest act of virtue is to abstain from injuring sentient creatures. Man does not possess an immortal spirit: death is the same to Brahma and to a fly. Therefore there is no heaven or hell separate from present pleasure or pain. Hindu Epicureans!—“Epicuri de grege porci.”

“For such reason to believe in the gods is not good. Upon this earth be pleased to believe in the Cow. It is our duty to protect the life of everyone, beginning from the elephant, through ants, beasts, and birds, up to man. In the world righteousness equal to that there is none. Those who, eating the flesh of other creatures, increase their own flesh, shall in the fulness of time assuredly obtain the fruition of Narak[171]Narak is one of the multitudinous places of Hindu punishment, said to adjoin the residence of Ajarna. The less cultivated Jains believe in a region of torment. The illuminati, however, have a sovereign contempt for the Creator, for a future state, and for all religious ceremonies. As Hindus, however, they believe in future births of mankind, somewhat influenced by present actions. The “next birth” in the mouth of a Hindu, we are told, is the same as “to-morrow” in the mouth of a Christian. The metempsychosis is on an extensive scale: according to some, a person who loses human birth must pass through eight millions of successive incarnations—fish, insects, worms, birds, and beasts—before he can reappear as a man.; hence for a man it is proper to attend to the conversation of life. They who understand not the pain of other creatures, and who continue to slay and to devour them, last but few days in the land, and return to mundane existence, maimed, limping, one-eyed, blind, dwarfed, hunchbacked, and imperfect in such wise. Just as they consume the bodies of beasts and of birds, even so they end by spoiling their own bodies. From drinking spirits also the great sin arises, hence the consuming of spirits and flesh is not advisable.”

The minister having in this manner explained to the king the sentiments of his own mind, so brought him over to the Jain faith, that whatever he said, so the king did. Thus in Brahmans, in Jogis, in Janganis, in Sevras, in Sannyasis,[172]Jogi, or Yogi, properly applies to followers of the Yoga or Patanjala school, who by ascetic practices acquire power over the elements. Vulgarly, it is a general term for mountebank vagrants, worshippers of Shiva. The Janganis adore the same deity, and carry about a Linga. The Sevras are Jain beggars, who regard their chiefs as superior to the gods of other sects. The Sannyasis are mendicant followers of Shiva; they never touch metals or fire, and, in religious parlance, they take up the staff They are opposed to the Viragis, worshippers of Vishnu, who contend as strongly against the worshippers of gods who receive bloody offerings, as a Christian could do against idolatry. and in religious mendicants, no man believed, and according to this creed the rule was carried on.

Now one day, being in the power of Death, Raja Gunshekhar died. Then his son Dharmadhwaj sat upon the carpet (throne), and began to rule. Presently he caused the minister Abhaichand to be seized, had his head shaved all but seven locks of hair, ordered his face to be blackened, and mounting him on an ass, with drums beaten, had him led all about the city, and drove him from the kingdom. From that time he carried on his rule free from all anxiety.

It so happened that in the season of spring, the king Dharmadhwaj, taking his queens with him, went for a stroll in the garden, where there was a large tank with lotuses blooming within it. The Raja admiring its beauty, took off his clothes and went down to bathe.

After plucking a flower and coming to the bank, he was going to give it into the hands of one of his queens, when it slipped from his fingers, fell upon her foot, and broke it with the blow. Then the Raja being alarmed, at once came out of the tank, and began to apply remedies to her.

Hereupon night came on, and the moon shone brightly: the falling of its rays on the body of the second queen formed blisters And suddenly from a distance the sound of a wooden pestle came out of a householder’s dwelling, when the third queen fainted away with a severe pain in the head.

Having spoken thus much the Baital said “O my king! of these three which is the most delicate?” The Raja answered, “She indeed is the most delicate who fainted in consequence of the headache.” The Baital hearing this speech, went and hung himself from the very same tree, and the Raja, having gone there and taken him down and fastened him in the bundle and placed him on his shoulder, carried him away.

There is a queer time coming, O Raja Vikram!—a queer time coming (said the Vampire), a queer time coming. Elderly people like you talk abundantly about the good old days that were, and about the degeneracy of the days that are. I wonder what you would say if you could but look forward a few hundred years.

Brahmans shall disgrace themselves by becoming soldiers and being killed, and Serviles (Shudras) shall dishonour themselves by wearing the thread of the twice-born, and by refusing to be slaves; in fact, society shall be all “mouth” and mixed castes.[173]The Brahman, or priest, is supposed to proceed from the mouth of Brahma, the creating person of the Triad; the Khshatriyas (soldiers) from his arms; the Vaishyas (enterers into business) from his thighs; and the Shudras, “who take refuge in the Brahmans,” from his feet. Only high caste men should assume the thread at the age of puberty. The courts of justice shall be disused; the great works of peace shall no longer be undertaken; wars shall last six weeks, and their causes shall be clean forgotten; the useful arts and great sciences shall die starved; there shall be no Gems of Science; there shall be a hospital for destitute kings, those, at least, who do not lose their heads, and no Vikrama——

A severe shaking stayed for a moment the Vampire’s tongue.

He presently resumed. Briefly, building tanks feeding Brahmans; lying when one ought to lie; suicide, the burning of widows, and the burying of live children, shall become utterly unfashionable.

The consequence of this singular degeneracy, O mighty Vikram, will be that strangers shall dwell beneath the roof tree in Bharat Khanda (India), and impure barbarians shall call the land their own. They come from a wonderful country, and I am most surprised that they bear it. The sky which ought to be gold and blue is there grey, a kind of dark white; the sun looks deadly pale, and the moon as if he were dead.[174]Soma, the moon, I have said, is masculine in India. The sea, when not dirty green, glistens with yellowish foam, and as you approach the shore, tall ghastly cliffs, like the skeletons of giants, stand up to receive or ready to repel. During the greater part of the sun’s Dakhshanayan (southern declination) the country is covered with a sort of cold white stuff which dazzles the eyes; and at such times the air is obscured with what appears to be a shower of white feathers or flocks of cotton. At other seasons there is a pale glare produced by the mist clouds which spread themselves over the lower firmament. Even the faces of the people are white; the men are white when not painted blue; the women are whiter, and the children are whitest: these indeed often have white hair.

“Truly,” exclaimed Dharma Dhwaj, “says the proverb, ‘Whoso seeth the world telleth many a lie.’”

At present (resumed the Vampire, not heeding the interruption), they run about naked in the woods, being merely Hindu outcastes. Presently they will change—the wonderful white Pariahs! They will eat all food indifferently, domestic fowls, onions, hogs fed in the street, donkeys, horses, hares, and (most horrible!) the flesh of the sacred cow. They will imbibe what resembles meat of colocynth, mixed with water, producing a curious frothy liquid, and a fiery stuff which burns the mouth, for their milk will be mostly chalk and pulp of brains; they will ignore the sweet juices of fruits and sugar-cane, and as for the pure element they will drink it, but only as medicine, They will shave their beards instead of their heads, and stand upright when they should sit down, and squat upon a wooden frame instead of a carpet, and appear in red and black like the children of Yama.[175]冥王星。 They will never offer sacrifices to the manes of ancestors, leaving them after their death to fry in the hottest of places. Yet will they perpetually quarrel and fight about their faith; for their tempers are fierce, and they would burst if they could not harm one another. Even now the children, who amuse themselves with making puddings on the shore, that is to say, heaping up the sand, always end their little games with “punching,” which means shutting the hand and striking one another’s heads, and it is soon found that the children are the fathers of the men.

These wonderful white outcastes will often be ruled by female chiefs, and it is likely that the habit of prostrating themselves before a woman who has not the power of cutting off a single head, may account for their unusual degeneracy and uncleanness. They will consider no occupation so noble as running after a jackal; they will dance for themselves, holding on to strange women, and they will take a pride in playing upon instruments, like young music girls.

The women, of course, relying upon the aid of the female chieftains, will soon emancipate themselves from the rules of modesty. They will eat with their husbands and with other men, and yawn and sit carelessly before them showing the backs of their heads. They will impudently quote the words, “By confinement at home, even under affectionate and observant guardians, women are not secure, but those are really safe who are guarded by their own inclinations “; as the poet sang—

Woman obeys one only word, her heart.

They will not allow their husbands to have more than one wife, and even the single wife will not be his slave when he needs her services, busying herself in the collection of wealth, in ceremonial purification, and feminine duty; in the preparation of daily food and in the superintendence of household utensils. What said Rama of Sita his wife? “If I chanced to be angry, she bore my impatience like the patient earth without a murmur; in the hour of necessity she cherished me as a mother does her child; in the moments of repose she was a lover to me; in times of gladness she was to me as a friend.” And it is said, “a religious wife assists her husband in his worship with a spirit as devout as his own. She gives her whole mind to make him happy; she is as faithful to him as a shadow to the body, and she esteems him, whether poor or rich, good or bad, handsome or deformed. In his absence or his sickness she renounces every gratification; at his death she dies with him, and he enjoys heaven as the fruit of her virtuous deeds. Whereas if she be guilty of many wicked actions and he should die first, he must suffer much for the demerits of his wife.”

But these women will talk aloud, and scold as the braying ass, and make the house a scene of variance, like the snake with the ichneumon, the owl with the crow, for they have no fear of losing their noses or parting with their ears. They will (O my mother!) converse with strange men and take their hands; they will receive presents from them, and, worst of all, they will show their white faces openly without the least sense of shame; they will ride publicly in chariots and mount horses, whose points they pride themselves upon knowing, and eat and drink in crowded places—their husbands looking on the while, and perhaps even leading them through the streets. And she will be deemed the pinnacle of the pagoda of perfection, that most excels in wit and shamelessness, and who can turn to water the livers of most men. They will dance and sing instead of minding their children, and when these grow up they will send them out of the house to shift for themselves, and care little if they never see them again.[176]Nothing astonishes Hindus so much as the apparent want of affection between the European parent and child. But the greatest sin of all will be this: when widowed they will ever be on the look-out for a second husband, and instances will be known of women fearlessly marrying three, four, and five times.[177]A third marriage is held improper and baneful to a Hindu woman. Hence, before the nuptials they betroth the man to a tree, upon which the evil expends itself, and the tree dies. You would think that all this licence satisfies them. But no! The more they have the more their weak minds covet. The men have admitted them to an equality, they will aim at an absolute superiority, and claim respect and homage; they will eternally raise tempests about their rights, and if anyone should venture to chastise them as they deserve, they would call him a coward and run off to the judge.

The men will, I say, be as wonderful about their women as about all other matters. The sage of Bharat Khanda guards the frail sex strictly, knowing its frailty, and avoids teaching it to read and write, which it will assuredly use for a bad purpose. For women are ever subject to the god[178]Kama] with the sugar-cane bow and string of bees, and arrows tipped with heating blossoms, and to him they will ever surrender man, dhan, tan—mind, wealth, and body. When, by exceeding cunning, all human precautions have been made vain, the wise man bows to Fate, and he forgets, or he tries to forget, the past. Whereas this race of white Pariahs will purposely lead their women into every kind of temptation, and, when an accident occurs, they will rage at and accuse them, killing ten thousand with a word, and cause an uproar, and talk scandal and be scandalized, and go before the magistrate, and make all the evil as public as possible. One would think they had in every way done their duty to their women!

And when all this change shall have come over them, they will feel restless and take flight, and fall like locusts upon the Aryavartta (land of India). Starving in their own country, they will find enough to eat here, and to carry away also. They will be mischievous as the saw with which ornament-makers trim their shells, and cut ascending as well as descending. To cultivate their friendship will be like making a gap in the water, and their partisans will ever fare worse than their foes. They will be selfish as crows, which, though they eat every kind of flesh, will not permit other birds to devour that of the crow.

In the beginning they will hire a shop near the mouth of mother Ganges, and they will sell lead and bullion, fine and coarse woollen cloths, and all the materials for intoxication. Then they will begin to send for soldiers beyond the sea, and to enlist warriors in Zambudwipa (India). They will from shopkeepers become soldiers: they will beat and be beaten; they will win and lose; but the power of their star and the enchantments of their Queen Kompani, a daina or witch who can draw the blood out of a man and slay him with a look, will turn everything to their good. Presently the noise of their armies shall be as the roaring of the sea; the dazzling of their arms shall blind the eyes like lightning; their battle-fields shall be as the dissolution of the world; and the slaughter-ground shall resemble a garden of plantain trees after a storm. At length they shall spread like the march of a host of ants over the land They will swear, “Dehar Ganga[179]An oath, meaning, “From such a falsehood preserve me, Ganges!”!” and they hate nothing so much as being compelled to destroy an army, to take and loot a city, or to add a rich slip of territory to their rule. And yet they will go on killing and capturing and adding region to region, till the Abode of Snow (Himalaya) confines them to the north, the Sindhu-naddi (Incus) to the west, and elsewhere the sea. Even in this, too, they will demean themselves as lords and masters, scarcely allowing poor Samudradevta[180]The Indian Neptune. to rule his own waves.

Raja Vikram was in a silent mood, otherwise he would not have allowed such ill-omened discourse to pass uninterrupted. Then the Baital, who in vain had often paused to give the royal carrier a chance of asking him a curious question, continued his recital in a dissonant and dissatisfied tone of voice.

By my feet and your head,[181]A highly insulting form of adjuration. O warrior king! it will fare badly in those days for the Rajas of Hindustan, when the red-coated men of Shaka[182]The British Islands—according to Wilford. shall come amongst them. Listen to my words.

In the Vindhya Mountain there will be a city named Dharmapur, whose king will be called Mahabul. He will be a mighty warrior, well-skilled in the dhanur-veda (art of war)[183]Literally the science (veda) of the bow (dhanush). This weapon, as everything amongst the Hindus, had a divine origin: it was of three kinds—the common bow, the pellet or stone bow, and the crossbow or catapult., and will always lead his own armies to the field. He will duly regard all the omens, such as a storm at the beginning of the march, an earthquake, the implements of war dropping from the hands of the soldiery, screaming vultures passing over or walking near the army, the clouds and the sun’s rays waxing red, thunder in a clear sky, the moon appearing small as a star, the dropping of blood from the clouds, the falling of lightning bolts, darkness filling the four quarters of the heavens, a corpse or a pan of water being carried to the right of the army, the sight of a female beggar with dishevelled hair, dressed in red, and preceding the vanguard, the starting of the flesh over the left ribs of the commander-in-chief, and the weeping or turning back of the horses when urged forward.

He will encourage his men to single combats, and will carefully train them to gymnastics. Many of the wrestlers and boxers will be so strong that they will often beat all the extremities of the antagonist into his body, or break his back, or rend him into two pieces. He will promise heaven to those who shall die in the front of battle and he will have them taught certain dreadful expressions of abuse to be interchanged with the enemy when commencing the contest. Honours will be conferred on those who never turn their backs in an engagement, who manifest a contempt of death, who despise fatigue, as well as the most formidable enemies, who shall be found invincible in every combat, and who display a courage which increases before danger, like the glory of the sun advancing to his meridian splendour.

But King Mahabul will be attacked by the white Pariahs, who, as usual, will employ against him gold, fire, and steel. With gold they will win over his best men, and persuade them openly to desert when the army is drawn out for battle. They will use the terrible “fire weapon,[184]It is a disputed point whether the ancient Hindus did or did not know the use of gunpowder.” large and small tubes, which discharge flame and smoke, and bullets as big as those hurled by the bow of Bharata.[185]It is said to have discharged balls, each 6,400 pounds in weight. And instead of using swords and shields, they will fix daggers to the end of their tubes, and thrust with them like lances.

Mahabul, distinguished by valour and military skill, will march out of his city to meet the white foe. In front will be the ensigns, bells, cows’-tails, and flags, the latter painted with the bird Garura,[186]A kind of Mercury, a god with the head and wings of a bird, who is the Vahan or vehicle of the second person of the Triad, Vishnu. the bull of Shiva, the Bauhinia tree, the monkey-god Hanuman, the lion and the tiger, the fish, an alms-dish, and seven palm-trees. Then will come the footmen armed with fire-tubes, swords and shields, spears and daggers, clubs, and bludgeons. They will be followed by fighting men on horses and oxen, on camels and elephants. The musicians, the water-carriers, and lastly the stores on carriages, will bring up the rear.

The white outcastes will come forward in a long thin red thread, and vomiting fire like the Jwalamukhi.[187]The celebrated burning springs of Baku, near the Caspian, are so called. There are many other “fire mouths.” King Mahabul will receive them with his troops formed in a circle; another division will be in the shape of a halfmoon; a third like a cloud, whilst others shall represent a lion, a tiger, a carriage, a lily, a giant, and a bull. But as the elephants will all turn round when they feel the fire, and trample upon their own men, and as the cavalry defiling in front of the host will openly gallop away; Mahabul, being thus without resource, will enter his palanquin, and accompanied by his queen and their only daughter, will escape at night-time into the forest.

The unfortunate three will be deserted by their small party, and live for a time on jungle food, fruits and roots; they will even be compelled to eat game. After some days they will come in sight of a village, which Mahabul will enter to obtain victuals. There the wild Bhils, famous for long years, will come up, and surrounding the party, will bid the Raja throw down his arms. Thereupon Mahabul, skilful in aiming, twanging and wielding the bow on all sides, so as to keep off the bolts of the enemy, will discharge his bolts so rapidly, that one will drive forward another, and none of the barbarians will be able to approach. But he will have failed to bring his quiver containing an inexhaustible store of arms, some of which, pointed with diamonds, shall have the faculty of returning again to their case after they have done their duty. The conflict will continue three hours, and many of the Bhils will be slain: at length a shaft will cleave the king’s skull, he will fall dead, and one of the wild men will come up and cut off his head.

When the queen and the princess shall have seen that Mahabul fell dead, they will return to the forest weeping and beating their bosoms. They will thus escape the Bhils, and after journeying on for four miles, at length they will sit down wearied, and revolve many thoughts in their minds.

They are very lovely (continued the Vampire), as I see them with the eye of clear-seeing. What beautiful hair! it hangs down like the tail of the cow of Tartary, or like the thatch of a house; it is shining as oil, dark as the clouds, black as blackness itself. What charming faces! likest to water-lilies, with eyes as the stones in unripe mangos, noses resembling the beaks of parrots, teeth like pearls set in corals, ears like those of the redthroated vulture, and mouths like the water of life. What excellent forms! breasts like boxes containing essences, the unopened fruit of plantains or a couple of crabs; loins the width of a span, like the middle of the viol; legs like the trunk of an elephant, and feet like the yellow lotus.

And a fearful place is that jungle, a dense dark mass of thorny shrubs, and ropy creepers, and tall canes, and tangled brake, and gigantic gnarled trees, which groan wildly in the night wind’s embrace. But a wilder horror urges the unhappy women on; they fear the polluting touch of the Bhils; once more they rise and plunge deeper into its gloomy depths.

The day dawns. The white Pariahs have done their usual work, They have cut off the hands of some, the feet and heads of others, whilst many they have crushed into shapeless masses, or scattered in pieces upon the ground. The field is strewed with corpses, the river runs red, so that the dogs and jackals swim in blood; the birds of prey sitting on the branches, drink man’s life from the stream, and enjoy the sickening smell of burnt flesh.

Such will be the scenes acted in the fair land of Bharat.

Perchance two white outcastes, father and son, who with a party of men are scouring the forest and slaying everything, fall upon the path which the women have taken shortly before. Their attention is attracted by footprints leading towards a place full of tigers, leopards, bears, wolves, and wild dogs. And they are utterly confounded when, after inspection, they discover the sex of the wanderers.

“How is it,” shall say the father, “that the footprints of mortals are seen in this part of the forest?”

The son shall reply, “Sir, these are the marks of women’s feet: a man’s foot would not be so small.”

“It is passing strange,” shall rejoin the elder white Pariah, “but thou speakest truth. Certainly such a soft and delicate foot cannot belong to anyone but a woman.”

“They have only just left the track,” shall continue the son, “and look! this is the step of a married woman. See how she treads on the inside of her sole, because of the bending of her ankles.” And the younger white outcaste shall point to the queen’s footprints.

“Come, let us search the forest for them,” shall cry the father, “what an opportunity of finding wives fortune has thrown in our hands. But no! thou art in error,” he shall continue, after examining the track pointed out by his son, “in supposing this to be the sign of a matron. Look at the other, it is much longer; the toes have scarcely touched the ground, whereas the marks of the heels are deep. Of a truth this must be the married woman.” And the elder white outcaste shall point to the footprints of the princess.

“Then,” shall reply the son, who admires the shorter foot, “let us first seek them, and when we find them, give to me her who has the short feet, and take the other to wife thyself.”

Having made this agreement they shall proceed on their way, and presently they shall find the women lying on the earth, half dead with fatigue and fear. Their legs and feet are scratched and torn by brambles, their ornaments have fallen off, and their garments are in strips. The two white outcastes find little difficulty, the first surprise over, in persuading the unhappy women to follow them home, and with great delight, conformably to their arrangement, each takes up his prize on his horse and rides back to the tents. The son takes the queen, and the father the princess.

In due time two marriages come to pass; the father, according to agreement, espouses the long foot, and the son takes to wife the short foot. And after the usual interval, the elder white outcaste, who had married the daughter, rejoices at the birth of a boy, and the younger white outcaste, who had married the mother, is gladdened by the sight of a girl.

Now then, by my feet and your head, O warrior king Vikram, answer me one question. What relationship will there be between the children of the two white Pariahs?

Vikram’s brow waxed black as a charcoal-burner’s, when he again heard the most irreverent oath ever proposed to mortal king. The question presently attracted his attention, and he turned over the Baital’s words in his head, confusing the ties of filiality, brotherhood, and relationship, and connection in general.

“Hem!” said the warrior king, at last perplexed, and remembering, in his perplexity, that he had better hold his tongue—“ahem!”

“I think your majesty spoke?” asked the Vampire, in an inquisitive and insinuating tone of voice.

“Hem!” ejaculated the monarch.

The Baital held his peace for a few minutes, coughing once or twice impatiently. He suspected that the extraordinary nature of this last tale, combined with the use of the future tense, had given rise to a taciturnity so unexpected in the warrior king. He therefore asked if Vikram the Brave would not like to hear another little anecdote.

This time the king did not even say “hem!” Having walked at an unusually rapid pace, he distinguished at a distance the fire kindled by the devotee, and he hurried towards it with an effort which left him no breath wherewith to speak, even had he been so inclined.

“Since your majesty is so completely dumbfoundered by it, perhaps this acute young prince may be able to answer my question?” insinuated the Baital, after a few minutes of anxious suspense.

But Dharma Dhwaj answered not a syllable.

结论。

At Raja Vikram’s silence the Baital was greatly surprised, and he praised the royal courage and resolution to the skies. Still he did not give up the contest at once.

“Allow me, great king,” pursued the Demon, in a dry tone of voice, “to wish you joy. After so many failures you have at length succeeded in repressing your loquacity. I will not stop to enquire whether it was humility and self-restraint which prevented your answering my last question, or whether Rajait was mere ignorance and inability. Of course I suspect the latter, but to say the truth your condescension in at last taking a Vampire’s advice, flatters me so much, that I will not look too narrowly into cause or motive.”

Raja Vikram winced, but maintained a stubborn silence, squeezing his lips lest they should open involuntarily.

“Now, however, your majesty has mortified, we will suppose, a somewhat exacting vanity, I also will in my turn forego the pleasure which I had anticipated in seeing you a corpse and in entering your royal body for a short time, just to know how queer it must feel to be a king. And what is more, I will now perform my original promise, and you shall derive from me a benefit which none but myself can bestow. First, however, allow me to ask you, will you let me have a little more air?”

Dharma Dhwaj pulled his father’s sleeve, but this time Raja Vikram required no reminder: wild horses or the executioner’s saw, beginning at the shoulder, would not have drawn a word from him. Observing his obstinate silence, the Baital, with an ominous smile, continued:

“Now give ear, O warrior king, to what I am about to tell thee, and bear in mind the giant’s saying, ‘A man is justified in killing one who has a design to kill him.’ The young merchant Mal Deo, who placed such magnificent presents at your royal feet, and Shanta-Shil the devotee saint, who works his spells, incantations, and magical rites in a cemetery on the banks of the Godaveri river, are, as thou knowest, one person—the terrible Jogi, whose wrath your father aroused in his folly, and whose revenge your blood alone can satisfy. With regard to myself, the oilman’s son, the same Jogi, fearing lest I might interfere with his projects of universal dominion, slew me by the power of his penance, and has kept me suspended, a trap for you, head downwards from the sires-tree.

“That Jogi it was, you now know, who sent you to fetch me back to him on your back. And when you cast me at his feet he will return thanks to you and praise your valour, perseverance and resolution to the skies. I warn you to beware. He will lead you to the shrine of Durga, and when he has finished his adoration he will say to you, ‘O great king, salute my deity with the eight-limbed reverence.’”

Here the Vampire whispered for a time and in a low tone, lest some listening goblin might carry his words if spoken out loud to the ears of the devotee Shanta-Shil.

At the end of the monologue a rustling sound was heard. It proceeded from the Baital, who was disengaging himself from the dead body in the bundle, and the burden became sensibly lighter upon the monarch’s back.

The departing Baital, however, did not forget to bid farewell to the warrior king and to his son. He complimented the former for the last time, in his own way, upon the royal humility and the prodigious self-mortification which he had displayed—qualities, he remarked, which never failed to ensure the proprietor’s success in all the worlds.

Raja Vikram stepped out joyfully, and soon reached the burning ground. There he found the Jogi, dressed in his usual habit, a deerskin thrown over his back, and twisted reeds instead of a garment hanging round his loins. The hair had fallen from his limbs and his skin was bleached ghastly white by exposure to the elements. A fire seemed to proceed from his mouth, and the matted locks dropping from his head to the ground were changed by the rays of the sun to the colour of gold or saffron. He had the beard of a goat and the ornaments of a king; his shoulders were high and his arms long, reaching to his knees: his nails grew to such a length as to curl round the ends of his fingers, and his feet resembled those of a tiger. He was drumming upon a skull, and incessantly exclaiming, “Ho, Kali! ho, Durga! ho, Devi!”

As before, strange beings were holding their carnival in the Jogi’s presence. Monstrous Asuras, giant goblins, stood grimly gazing upon the scene with fixed eyes and motionless features. Rakshasas and messengers of Yama, fierce and hideous, assumed at pleasure the shapes of foul and ferocious beasts. Nagas and Bhutas, partly human and partly bestial, disported themselves in throngs about the upper air, and were dimly seen in the faint light of the dawn. Mighty Daityas, Bramba-daityas, and Pretas, the size of a man’s thumb, or dried up like leaves, and Pisachas of terrible power guarded the place. There were enormous goats, vivified by the spirits of those who had slain Brahmans; things with the bodies of men and the faces of horses, camels and monkeys; hideous worms containing the souls of those priests who had drunk spirituous liquors; men with one leg and one ear, and mischievous blood-sucking demons, who in life had stolen church property. There were vultures, wretches that had violated the beds of their spiritual fathers, restless ghosts that had loved low-caste women, shades for whom funeral rites had not been performed, and who could not cross the dread Vaitarani stream,[188]The Hindu Styx. and vital souls fresh from the horrors of Tamisra, or utter darkness, and the Usipatra Vana, or the sword-leaved forest. Pale spirits, Alayas, Gumas, Baitals, and Yakshas,[189]From Yaksha, to eat; as Rakshasas are from Raksha, to preserve.—See Hardy’s Manual of Buddhism, p. 57. beings of a base and vulgar order, glided over the ground, amongst corpses and skeletons animated by female fiends, Dakinis, Yoginis, Hakinis, and Shankinis, which were dancing in frightful revelry. The air was filled with supernatural sights and sounds, cries of owls and jackals, cats and crows, dogs, asses, and vultures, high above which rose the clashing of the bones with which the Jogi sat drumming upon the skull before him, and tending a huge cauldron of oil whose smoke was of blue fire. But as he raised his long lank arm, silver-white with ashes, the demons fled, and a momentary silence succeeded to their uproar. The tigers ceased to roar and the elephants to scream; the bears raised their snouts from their foul banquets, and the wolves dropped from their jaws the remnants of human flesh. And when they disappeared, the hooting of the owl, and ghastly “ha! ha!” of the curlew, and the howling of the jackal died away in the far distance, leaving a silence still more oppressive.

As Raja Vikram entered the burning-ground, the hollow sound of solitude alone met his ear. Sadly wailed the wet autumnal blast. The tall gaunt trees groaned aloud, and bowed and trembled like slaves bending before their masters. Huge purple clouds and patches and lines of glaring white mist coursed furiously across the black expanse of firmament, discharging threads and chains and lozenges and balls of white and blue, purple and pink lightning, followed by the deafening crash and roll of thunder, the dreadful roaring of the mighty wind, and the torrents of plashing rain. At times was heard in the distance the dull gurgling of the swollen river, interrupted by explosions, as slips of earth-bank fell headlong into the stream. But once more the Jogi raised his arm and all was still: nature lay breathless, as if awaiting the effect of his tremendous spells.

The warrior king drew near the terrible man, unstrung his bundle from his back, untwisted the portion which he held, threw open the cloth, and exposed to Shanta-Shil’s glittering eyes the corpse, which had now recovered its proper form—that of a young child. Seeing it, the devotee was highly pleased, and thanked Vikram the Brave, extolling his courage and daring above any monarch that had yet lived. After which he repeated certain charms facing towards the south, awakened the dead body, and placed it in a sitting position. He then in its presence sacrificed to his goddess, the White One,[190]Shiva is always painted white, no one knows why. His wife Gauri has also a European complexion. Hence it is generally said that the sect popularly called “Thugs,” who were worshippers of these murderous gods, spared Englishmen, the latter being supposed to have some rapport with their deities. all that he had ready by his side—betel leaf and flowers, sandal wood and unbroken rice, fruits, perfumes, and the flesh of man untouched by steel. Lastly, he half filled his skull with burning embers, blew upon them till they shot forth tongues of crimson light, serving as a lamp, and motioning the Raja and his son to follow him, led the way to a little fane of the Destroying Deity erected in a dark clump of wood, outside and close to the burning ground.

They passed through the quadrangular outer court of the temple whose piazza was hung with deep shade.[191]The Hindu shrine is mostly a small building, with two inner compartments, the vestibule and the Garbagriha, or adytum, in which stands the image. In silence they circumambulated the small central shrine, and whenever Shanta-Shil directed, Raja Vikram entered the Sabha, or vestibule, and struck three times upon the gong, which gave forth a loud and warning sound.

They then passed over the threshold, and looked into the gloomy inner depths. There stood Smashana-Kali,[192]Meaning Kali of the cemetery (Smashana); another form of Durga. the goddess, in her most horrid form. She was a naked and very black woman, with half-severed head, partly cut and partly painted, resting on her shoulder; and her tongue lolled out from her wide yawning mouth[193]Not being able to find victims, this pleasant deity, to satisfy her thirst for the curious juice, cut her own throat that the blood might spout up into her mouth. She once found herself dancing on her husband, and was so shocked that in surprise she put out her tongue to a great length, and remained motionless. She is often represented in this form.; her eyes were red like those of a drunkard; and her eyebrows were of the same colour: her thick coarse hair hung like a mantle to her heels. She was robed in an elephant’s hide, dried and withered, confined at the waist with a belt composed of the hands of the giants whom she had slain in war: two dead bodies formed her earrings, and her necklace was of bleached skulls. Her four arms supported a scimitar, a noose, a trident, and a ponderous mace. She stood with one leg on the breast of her husband, Shiva, and she rested the other on his thigh. Before the idol lay the utensils of worship, namely, dishes for the offerings, lamps, jugs, incense, copper cups, conches and gongs; and all of them smelt of blood.

As Raja Vikram and his son stood gazing upon the hideous spectacle, the devotee stooped down to place his skull-lamp upon the ground, and drew from out his ochre-coloured cloth a sharp sword which he hid behind his back.

“Prosperity to thine and thy son’s for ever and ever, O mighty Vikram!” exclaimed Shanta-Shil, after he had muttered a prayer before the image. “Verily thou hast right royally redeemed thy pledge, and by the virtue of thy presence all my wishes shall presently be accomplished. Behold! the Sun is about to drive his car over the eastern hills, and our task now ends. Do thou reverence before this my deity, worshipping the earth through thy nose, and so prostrating thyself that thy eight limbs may touch the ground.[194]This ashtanga, the most ceremonious of the five forms of Hindu salutation, consists of prostrating and of making the eight parts of the body—namely, the temples, nose and chin, knees and hands—touch the ground. Thus shall thy glory and splendour be great; the Eight Powers[195]“Sidhis,” the personified Powers of Nature. At least, so we explain them: but people do not worship abstract powers. and the Nine Treasures shall be thine, and prosperity shall ever remain under thy roof-tree.”

Raja Vikram, hearing these words, recalled suddenly to mind all that the Vampire had whispered to him. He brought his joined hands open up to his forehead, caused his two thumbs to touch his brow several times, and replied with the greatest humility,

“O pious person! I am a king ignorant of the way to do such obeisance. Thou art a spiritual preceptor: be pleased to teach me and I will do even as thou desirest.”

Then the Jogi, being a cunning man, fell into his own net. As he bent him down to salute the goddess, Vikram, drawing his sword, struck him upon the neck so violent a blow, that his head rolled from his body upon the ground. At the same moment Dharma Dhwaj, seizing his father’s arm, pulled him out of the way in time to escape being crushed by the image, which fell with the sound of thunder upon the floor of the temple.

A small thin voice in the upper air was heard to cry, “A man is justified in killing one who has the desire to kill him.” Then glad shouts of triumph and victory were heard in all directions. They proceeded from the celestial choristers, the heavenly dancers, the mistresses of the gods, and the nymphs of Indra’s Paradise, who left their beds of gold and precious stones, their seats glorious as the meridian sun, their canals of crystal water, their perfumed groves, and their gardens where the wind ever blows in softest breezes, to applaud the valour and good fortune of the warrior king.

At last the brilliant god, Indra himself, with the thousand eyes, rising from the shade of the Parigat tree, the fragrance of whose flowers fills the heavens, appeared in his car drawn by yellow steeds and cleaving the thick vapours which surround the earth—whilst his attendants sounded the heavenly drums and rained a shower of blossoms and perfumes—bade the Vikramajit the Brave ask a boon.

The Raja joined his hands and respectfully replied,

“O mighty ruler of the lower firmament, let this my history become famous throughout the world!”

“It is well,” rejoined the god. “As long as the sun and moon endure, and the sky looks down upon the ground, so long shall this thy adventure be remembered over all the earth. Meanwhile rule thou mankind.”

Thus saying, Indra retired to the delicious Amrawati[196]The residence of Indra, king of heaven, built by Wishwa-Karma, the architect of the gods. Vikram took up the corpses and threw them into the cauldron which Shanta-Shil had been tending. At once two heroes started into life, and Vikram said to them, “When I call you, come!”

With these mysterious words the king, followed by his son, returned to the palace unmolested. As the Vampire had predicted, everything was prosperous to him, and he presently obtained the remarkable titles, Sakaro, or foe of the Sakas, and Sakadhipati-Vikramaditya.

And when, after a long and happy life spent in bringing the world under the shadow of one umbrella, and in ruling it free from care, the warrior king Vikram entered the gloomy realms of Yama, from whom for mortals there is no escape, he left behind him a name that endured amongst men like the odour of the flower whose memory remains long after its form has mingled with the dust.[197]In other words, to the present day, whenever a Hindu novelist, romancer, or tale writer seeks a peg upon which to suspend the texture of his story, he invariably pitches upon the glorious, pious, and immortal memory of that Eastern King Arthur, Vikramaditya, shortly called Vikram.]